Sri Lanka, July 6 -- Matthew Duckworth has been named as Australia's next High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Australia has announced.

Duckworth is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and was most recently Assistant Secretary, United States Trade Taskforce and Deputy Chief Negotiator, Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement.

He has previously served overseas in Indonesia and Cambodia.

Making the announcement, Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong said Sri Lanka is a key partner for Australia in the Northeast Indian Ocean and the relationship between the two nations is based on strong community links, longstanding development partnership, growing trade and investment ties,...