Independence is enjoying freedom of life, speech and faith and being economically free.
All countries gain independence for this purpose.
We celebrate independence every year in order to remember our 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 renewed freedom our country is striving forth in development thus creating great opportunities for investments.
The Sri Lankan migrant community can play a pivotal role in the development of infrastructure and the economy of the country.
With the influx of European tourism, Sri Lanka has also gained from the increased numbers of Arab tourists.
We all know that our motherland is known as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean and the Paradise Island on earth, an Island of extraordinary natural beauty, valuable culture and proud history.
I take this opportunity to urge the Sri Lankan community in the western region to promote this beautiful image of our country to the Arab world and to contribute to the nation by promoting our tourism and attract foreign investment from this region.
The migrant workers are already contributing to the development of the country as foreign exchange earnings from foreign employment for the year 2010 was 4.65 billion Sri Lanka rupees and has become the number one foreign exchange earner for the country.
The president declared December 18th as the International Migrant’s Day which was celebrated in Sri Lanka on a grand scale last year as recognition and respect to the migrant workers for their contribution to the nation.
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 recall the slogan declared by the government of Sri Lanka in 2011 which was “let us serve the public with loving kindness”.
In addition, the government has declared this year’s slogan as “let us build up the country to be the Wonder of Asia”.
I kindly invite my fellow Sri Lankans to join hands, bury our differences, be united as Sri Lankans and strive forth to make Sri Lanka the Wonder of Asia.
I wish to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and the government of Saudi Arabia for the excellent bilateral relationship existing between our countries at all levels.
I also wish to thank the Sri Lankan expatriate community, various societies and clubs 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.
