RIYADH: Ahamedlebbe Sabarullah Khan, the deputy chief of mission of the Sri Lankan Embassy in the Kingdom, has been named Sri Lanka’s consul general in Jeddah, the Sri Lankan Embassy announced on Saturday.
“Promoting economic diplomacy is my major mission since my country has entered a new era following the defeat of terror in May last year,” Khan said.
He also requested the island’s expatriates in the Kingdom to follow President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s request to participate in the economic development of the country. My priority is to serve Sri Lankans living in the western part of the Kingdom and to promote two-way trade, tourism and investment between Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia,” Khan said. Some 150,000 Sri Lankans work in Jeddah, Makkah, Madinah and Taif.
The diplomat, who has spent 20 months in the embassy, said the Kingdom had about half-a-million Sri Lankan workers. Khan said that while in Riyadh, he had acquired a large circle of friends composed of government officials, diplomats and prominent members of the community.
Besides promoting bilateral trade and investment, Khan said that the Jeddah Consulate was oriented to serving the country’s Umrah and Haj pilgrims and offering consular services to Sri Lankans.
