Lankans play vital role in Kingdom's development

Today we are celebrating the 67th Anniversary of the Independence of our country with vigor and glory, and I am proud to convey my warmest greetings to the Sri Lankan expatriate community who are residing, staying and working in the western region of Saudi Arabia.
Independence is enjoying freedom of life, speech and faith and being economically free. All countries gain their independence for this purpose. Thus, we celebrate independence every year, in order to remember our war heroes who sacrificed their lives in the struggle to gain our freedom and to be reminded that we are enjoying the freedom obtained.
With the dawn of a new era, our country is pushing ahead with development schemes, creating great opportunities for the investment sector.
The Sri Lankan migrant community can play a pivotal role in the development of infrastructure and economy of the country.
Sri Lanka has gradually increased the amount of visiting tourists during the past years, especially from Saudi Arabia.
It is known as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean and the paradise island on the earth, an island with extra ordinary natural beauty, valuable culture and proud history.
Hence I take this opportunity to urge the Sri Lankan community in the western region to continue their efforts in promoting this beautiful image of our country to the Arab world and to contribute to the nation promoting our tourism and attractive foreign investment from this region.
The Sri Lankan migrant workers already hold a major share in the development of the country as remittances have become the number one foreign exchange earner for the country during the past years.
The consulate general of Sri Lanka in Jeddah provides consular and welfare services to the Sri Lankan community in this region and also conducts visits to all major cities in the region on a regular basis for this purpose.
At this juncture, I wish to remind the slogan declared by the government of Sri Lanka for this year “Let Us Shoulder the Effort of Transforming Sri Lanka as an Emerging Economy in Asia”.
I kindly invite my fellow Sri Lankans to join hands, bury our differences, be united as Sri Lankans and strive to make ensuring an excellent public service delivery.
I take this opportunity to ask from Allah to grant the late King Abdullah with ‘Jannathul Firdous’ for the unforgettable services rendered during his ruling period.
I also would like to wish Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and the government of Saudi Arabia and hope the excellent bilateral relationship existing between our countries would continue at all levels.
I also wish to thank the Sri Lankan expatriate community and the Sri Lankan International School for their invaluable support to the consulate general’s activities.
Let us all celebrate this day proudly and value our nation by uniting and contributing to the economy and development of our motherland in every possible way.

Dr. A. Uthumalebbe
Consul General
Jeddah