ONE of the highest national honours of the Republic of Brazil, Officer of the Order of Rio Branco, was conferred on Chairman, Mercantile Merchant Bank Ltd and Honorary Consul for Brazil in Sri Lanka, Milinda Moragoda. Ambassador of Brazil accredited to Sri Lanka based in New Delhi, Luiz Filipe de Macedo Soares, formally bestowed this honour on Moragoda which was conferred on by decree of the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil on June 1 at a ceremony held in Colombo on June 29.

The order is named after a national hero of Brazil, the country's most distinguished and respected diplomat, the Baron of Rio Branco, the foreign minis-ter of Brazil at the beginning of the century. He was responsible for peacefully resolving all border disputes of Brazil.

Through prudent economic management Brazil in many ways successfully minimised the negative fall out from the East Asian crisis on its own economy.

Today, there is a consensus among international observers that Brazil, together with China and India, will emerge to become the economic and industrial power houses of the next millennium.