Category: News
Ambassador Ameer Ajwad calls on HRH Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdul Azeez, Governor of Riyadh
Sri Lankan Haj Delegation Participates at the “Closing Ceremony of Haj Season – 2024
Takamol Holdings hosts new Sri Lankan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ameer Ajwad
Press Release
Takamol Holdings hosts new Sri Lankan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ameer Ajwad
Takamol Holdings which represents the Ministry of Labour of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in managing and developing the Saudi labour market, hosted for a luncheon in honour of Sri Lanka’s new Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Omar Lebbe Ameer Ajwad in Riyadh on 6th June 2024.
Extending a warm welcome to Ambassador Ameer Ajwad to the Kingdom Dr. Wafi Assiri, Director of Takamol stated that Sri Lanka has been one of the close partners of Takamol from its inception and that they look forward to working closely with the new Ambassador of Sri Lanka in the years ahead.
In response, Ambassador Ameer Ajwad expressed his appreciation to the support and cooperation extended by Takamol to the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Riyadh and emphasized the need to further enhance relations in the field of labour cooperation to maximize win-win benefits for both nations.
Takamol handles Musaned electronic platform which is one of the initiatives of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development of Saudi Arabia with a view to streamlining the recruitment of domestic workers in an integrated manner and increasing the level of preservation of rights of all parties.
Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia signed an Agreement on Domestic Workers recruitment in the year 2014. The Musaned system was introduced in the year 2015 with the view to streamlining the recruitment process and resolve disputes.
Sri Lanka’s Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission and Takamol also signed an Agreement on Skill Verification Program which aims at improving the professional competence of employees in the Saudi labor market, easing the recruitment process of skilled workers from Sri Lanka.
During the occasion, the Saudi side was represented by Director Dr. Wafi Assiri, Eng. Mohammed Al Bakri, General Manager, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, Mr. Naif from the same ministry, and Mr. Abdulla Alkhowaiter from Musaned. The Sri Lankan side was represented by Mohamed Anas, HoC, and Counsellor H. W. Samantha.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
Riyadh
Ambassador Ameer Ajwad Presents Open Copies of Credentials
Ambassador Ameer Ajwad Presents Open Copies of Credentials
Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Omar Lebbe Ameer Ajwad presented open copies of his credentials to the Deputy Minister of Protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Abdul Majeed bin Rashed Al Samary, at the Saudi Foreign Ministry headquarters in Riyadh on June 2, 2024.
Deputy Minister Abdul Majeed extended a warm welcome to Ambassador Ameer Ajwad and wished him a fruitful assignment in the Kingdom. In response, while expressing his greetings, Ambassador Ameer Ajwad underlined the growing momentum in the bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia and highlighted the achievement of 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries that falls this year.
Ambassador Omar Lebbe Ameer Ajwad is a career diplomat with 26 years of experience in the Sri Lanka Diplomatic Service. Prior to his appointment as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, he served as the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka in charge of the Ministry’s Action Planning, Implementation, & Performance Review including Bilateral Treaties; Political Affairs (Africa Region); Consular Affairs; as well as the Emergency Response Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka. He has also served as the head of Policy Planning, Research & Human Resources Development as well as Overseas Administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ambassador Ameer Ajwad has served as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Sultanate of Oman with concurrent accreditation to the Republic of Yemen from 2019 to 2022. His diplomatic assignments include serving in Singapore as Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner (Actg.) (2018–2019) with concurrent accreditation to Brunei Darussalam, Deputy High Commission of Sri Lanka in Chennai, India (2011–2015), the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland (2005–2009), and the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Riyadh, KSA (2000–2003).
Ambassador Ameer Ajwad has represented Sri Lanka at numerous international and regional conferences. He has also served as a member of many National Advisory Committees, including the National Committee for Official Languages Policy Implementation (NCOLPI) of Sri Lanka, National Advisory Committee on Migration for Employment (NACME), and the Executive Committee of the National Disaster Management Coordination Committee (NDMCC) of Sri Lanka.
He holds a Master’s Degree in Laws (LL.M) from the University of Colombo, a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts (BA) from the University of Peradeniya, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Laws (LL.B) from the University of Colombo. He was admitted to the Bar as an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 1997.
He recently authored a book on international relations titled “Sri Lanka – Oman Relations: Past, Present, and Future.” He speaks English, Arabic, Sinhala, and Tamil languages.
මාධ්ය නිවේදනය
තානාපති අමීර් අජ්වාඩ් අක්තපත්රවල විවෘත පිටපත් පිළිගන්වයි
සෞදි අරාබියේ ශ්රී ලංකා තානාපති ඕමාර් ලෙබ්බේ අමීර් අජ්වාඩ් විසින් එරට විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්යාංශයේ නියෝජ්ය අමාත්යාංශ ලේකම් / සන්ධාන අබ්දුල් මජීඩ් බින් රාශෙඩ් අල් සම්රි වෙත සිය අක්තපත්රවල විවෘත පිටපත් 2024 ජුනි මස 2 වන දින සෞදි විදේශ අමාත්යාංශයේදී පිළිගන්වන ලදී.
නියෝජ්ය අමාත්ය අබ්දුල් මජීඩ් තානාපති අමීර් අජ්වාඩ්ව උණුසුම් ලෙස පිළිගත් අතර ඔහුට රාජධානියේ ඵලදායී සේවා කාලයක් ප්රාර්ථනා කළේය. ඊට ප්රතිචාර වශයෙන්, තානාපති අමීර් අජ්වාඩ් මහතා සිය සුබපැතුම් ප්රකාශ කරමින් ශ්රී ලංකාව සහ සෞදි අරාබිය අතර ද්විපාර්ශ්වික සබඳතාවල වේගවත් වර්ධනය පිළිබඳව අවධාරණය කළ අතර, මේ වසරේදී දෙරට අතර රාජ්ය තාන්ත්රික සබඳතාවල වසර පනහක් සැපිරීම අවධාරණය කළේය.
තානාපති ඕමාර් ලෙබ්බේ අමීර් අජ්වාඩ් ශ්රී ලංකා රාජ්ය තාන්ත්රික සේවයේ වසර 26 ක පළපුරුද්දක් ඇති වෘත්තීය රාජ්ය තාන්ත්රිකයෙකි. ඔහු සෞදි අරාබි රාජධානියේ ශ්රී ලංකා තානාපතිවරයා ලෙස පත්වීමට පෙර ශ්රී ලංකාවේ විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්යාංශයේ ක්රියාකාරී සැලසුම්, ක්රියාත්මක කිරීම සහ ද්විපාර්ශ්වික ගිවිසුම් ඇතුළුව කාර්ය සාධන සමාලෝචනය, දේශපාලන කටයුතු (අප්රිකා කලාපය), කොන්සියුලර් කටයුතු මෙන්ම ශ්රී ලංකා විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්යාංශයේ හදිසි ප්රතිචාර ඒකකයේ අතිරේක ලේකම් ලෙස සේවය කළේය. ඔහු විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්යාංශයේ ප්රතිපත්ති සැලසුම්, පර්යේෂණ සහ මානව සම්පත් සංවර්ධන මෙන්ම එතෙර පරිපාලන ප්රධානියා ලෙස ද කටයුතු කර ඇත.
තානාපති අමීර් අජ්වාඩ් 2019 සිට 2022 දක්වා ඕමාන් රාජ්යයේ ශ්රී ලංකා තානාපතිවරයා ලෙස සේවය කර ඇත. ඔහුගේ රාජ්යතාන්ත්රික පැවරුම් සිංගප්පූරුවේ ශ්රී ලංකා වැඩ බලන මහ කොමසාරිස් ලෙස (2018 – 2019), ඉන්දියාවේ චෙන්නායි හි ශ්රී ලංකා නියෝජ්ය මහ කොමසාරිස් කාර්යාලය (2011 – 2015), ස්විට්සර්ලන්තයේ ජිනීවා හි එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ ශ්රී ලංකා නිත්ය නියෝජිත කාර්යාලය (2005 – 2009) සහ ශ්රී ලංකා තානාපති කාර්යාලය, රියාද් (2000 – 2003).
තානාපති අමීර් අජ්වාඩ් ජාත්යන්තර සහ කලාපීය සම්මන්ත්රණ රාශියකදී ශ්රී ලංකාව නියෝජනය කර ඇත. ඔහු ශ්රී ලංකාවේ රාජ්ය භාෂා ප්රතිපත්ති ක්රියාත්මක කිරීම සඳහා වූ ජාතික කමිටුව (NCOLPI), රැකියා සඳහා සංක්රමණ පිළිබඳ ජාතික උපදේශක කමිටුව (NACME) සහ ජාතික ආපදා කළමනාකරණ සම්බන්ධීකරණ කමිටුවේ විධායක කමිටුව (NDMCC) ඇතුළු බොහෝ ජාතික උපදේශක කමිටුවල සාමාජිකයෙකු ලෙස ද සේවය කර ඇත.
ඔහු කොළඹ විශ්වවිද්යාලයෙන් නීතිය පිළිබඳ ශාස්ත්රපති උපාධිය (LL.M), පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්යාලයෙන් ශාස්ත්රවේදී උපාධිය (BA) සහ කොළඹ විශ්වවිද්යාලයෙන් නීතිවේදී උපාධිය (LL.B) ලබා ඇත. තවද ඔහු 1997 දී ශ්රී ලංකා ශ්රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ නීතීඥවරයෙකු ලෙස දිවුරුම් දී ඇත.
ඔහු මෑතකදී ජාත්යන්තර සබඳතා පිළිබඳ පොතක් පළ කර ඇත: “ශ්රී ලංකාව – ඕමාන් සබඳතා: අතීතය, වර්තමානය සහ අනාගතය”. ඔහු ඉංග්රීසි, අරාබි, සිංහල සහ දෙමළ භාෂා කතා කරයි.
பத்திரிகை செய்தி
தூதுவர் அமீர் அஜ்மத் அவர்கள் நற்சான்றிதழ்களின் திறந்த பிரதிகளை வழங்கி வைத்தார்
சவுதி அரேபியாவுக்கான இலங்கை தூதுவர் உமர் லெப்பை அமீர் அஜ்வத் அவர்கள் கடந்த ஜூன் மாதம் 2ஆம் தேதி ரியாதிலுள்ள சவுதி அரேபிய வெளிவிவகார அமைச்சின் தலைமை அலுவலகத்தில் சவுதி அரேபிய வெளிவிவகார அமைச்சின் நெறிமுறைப் பிரதி அமைச்சர் அப்துல் மஜீத் பின் ரஷீத் அல் ஸமரியிடம் தனது நற்சான்றிதழ்களின் திறந்த பிரதிகளை வழங்கி வைத்தார்.
பிரதி அமைச்சர் அப்துல் மஜீத் அவர்கள் தூதுவர் அமீர் அஜ்வத் அவர்களை அன்புடன் வரவேற்றதுடன் இராச்சியத்தில் அவரது பணி சிறக்க வேண்டும் என்றும் வாழ்த்துக்களைத் தெரிவித்தார். இதற்குப் பதிலளித்த தூதுவர் அமீர் அஜீத் அவர்கள் தனது வாழ்த்துக்களை தெரிவித்ததுடன் இலங்கைக்கும் சவுதி அரேபியாவுக்கும் இடையிலான இருதரப்பு உறவுகள் வேகமாக வளர்ந்து வருவதை அடையாளமிட்டுக் காட்டியதுடன் இரு நாடுகளுக்கும் இடையிலான ஐம்பது 50 வருட கால ராஜதந்திர உறவுகளின் விளைவாக தற்போது காண்கின்ற அடைவுகள் தொடர்பிலும் கோடிட்டுக் காட்டினார்.
தூதுவர் அமீர் அஜ்வத் அவர்கள் இலங்கையின் இராஜதந்திர சேவையில் 26 வருட அனுபவங்களைக் கொண்ட தொழில்வண்மை மிக்க ஒரு இராஜதந்திரி ஆவார். இவர் சவுதி அரேபியாவுக்கான தூதுவராக நியமனம் பெற்று வருவதற்கு முன்னர் இலங்கை வெளிவிவகார அமைச்சின் செயல் திட்டமிடல், அமுலாக்கல் மற்றும் இருதரப்பு ஒப்பந்தங்கள் உட்பட்ட செய்த்திறன் மீளாய்வு, அரசியல் விவகாரம் (ஆபிரிக்க பிராந்தியம்), தூதரக விவகாரங்கள் அத்துடன் இலங்கை அவசரகாலத் துலங்கல் பிரிவு ஆகியவற்றுக்கு பொறுப்பான மேலதிக செயலாளராகப் பணியாற்றினார். மேலும் அவர் வெளிவகார அமைச்சின் கொள்கைத் திட்டமிடல், ஆராய்ச்சி மற்றும் மனிதவள மேம்பாடு போன்றவற்றுக்கு தலைவராக பணியாற்றியதோடு வெளிவகார அமைச்சின் கடல் கடந்த நிர்வாகத்திற்கான பிரதானியாகவும் பணியாற்றினார்.
மேலும் 2019 முதல் 2022 வரையிலான காலப்பகுதியில் ஓமான் இராச்சியத்துக்கான இலங்கை தூதுவராக பணியாற்றிய தூதுவர் அமீர் அஜ்வத் அவர்கள் ஏக காலத்தில் எமன் குடியரசுக்கான தூதுரகப் பணிகளையும் இணையாக மேற்கொண்ட அதிவிசேட திறமை வாய்ந்த பூரண அதிகாரம் கொண்ட தூதுவராக பணியாற்றினார்.
மேலும் அவரது ராஜதந்திர செயல்பாடுகள் 2018 தொடக்கம் 2019 வரை ஏக காலத்தில் புரூணை தாருல் ஸலாம் பிராந்தியத்தையும் உள்ளடக்கியதாக சிங்கப்பூர் உயர் ஸ்தானிகராகவும், இந்தியாவில் சென்னைக்கான இலங்கையில் பிரதி உயர் ஸ்தானிகராகவும் (2011 – 2015), சுவிட்சர்லாந்தின் ஜெனிவாவில் உள்ள ஐக்கிய நாடுகள் சபைக்கான இலங்கையின் நிரந்தர தூதுவராகவும் (2005 – 2009) மற்றும் ரியாத்தில் உள்ள இலங்கை தூதரகம் (2000 – 2003) என பல பகுதிகளை கொண்டதாக அமைந்திருந்தது.
மேலும் தூதுவர் அமீர் அஜ்வத் அவர்கள் பல சர்வதேச மற்றும் பிராந்திய மாநாடுகளிலும் இலங்கையைப் பிரதிநிதித்துவப் படுத்தியுள்ளார். மேலும் அவர் இலங்கையின் உத்தியோக பூர்வ மொழிகளுக்கான தேசிய கொள்கை அமுலாக்கக் குழு (NCOLPI), வேலை வாய்ப்புக்கான இடம் பெயர்வுடன் தொடர்பான தேசிய ஆலோசனை குழு (NACME), தேசிய அனர்த்த முகாமைத்துவ ஒருங்கிணைப்பு குழுவின் செயற்குழு (NDMCC) உட்பட பல தேசிய ஆலோசனை குழுக்களின் உறுப்பினராகவும் பணியாற்றியுள்ளார்.
கொழும்பு பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில் சட்டத்துறையில் சட்டமாணி (LLB), சட்ட முதுமாணி (LLM) பட்டம் பெற்ற தூதுவர் அவர்கள் பேராதனை பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில் இளங்கலைப் (BA) பட்டத்தையும் நிறைவு செய்தவராவார். மேலும் அவர் 1997 ஆம் ஆண்டு இலங்கையின் உச்ச நீதிமன்றத்தின் சட்டத்தரணியாக உள்வாங்கப்பட்டார்.
தூதுவர் அவர்கள் சமீபத்தில் “இலங்கை – ஓமான் உறவுகள்: கடந்த காலம், நிகழ் காலம் மற்றும் எதிர் காலம்” என்ற தலைப்பில் ஆங்கிலம், அரபு, சிங்களம் மற்றும் தமிழ் மொழிகளில் சர்வதேச உறவுகள் தொடர்பான ஒரு புத்தகத்தை வெளியிட்டார்.
Foreign Minister Ali Sabry inaugurates the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Business Conclave 2024
The Minister of Foreign Affairs M.U.M. Ali Sabry in his capacity as the current Chair of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) inaugurated the “IORA Business Conclave ” on 28 May 2024 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo. The Business Conclave under the theme “Sustaining Growth – Bridging Horizons” was organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce as the current Chair of the IORA Business Forum (IORBF) in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 28 – 29 May 2024. Over 80 participants from the business fraternity across the IORA region participated in the Conclave. This is the highest number of participants recorded at an IORA Business Conclave.
Addressing the gathering, Minister Ali Sabry stated that Sri Lanka under its Chairmanship is actively working towards promoting the concept of the Blue Economy and will work towards harnessing sustainable opportunities in ocean related industries with the goal of stimulating economic growth. He also added that enhancing regional connectivity through infrastructure also remains a priority for Sri Lanka stating that Sri Lanka is looking at entering into as many Free Trade Agreements to gain greater market access.
The keynote speech was delivered by Secretary General of the Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet Satya Tripathi where he highlighted the importance of collaboration with private sector businesses to harness resources. Secretary General of IORA Dr. Salman Al Farisi in a pre-recorded message stated that the initiative of the Business Conclave was timely, highlighting the Chairs commitment to strengthen collaboration between the business communities. Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Duminda Hulangamuwa in his welcome address commented that the Trade Agreements Sri Lanka was entering into would pave the way for increased investment and trade, helping Sri Lanka to develop further.
During the two day event, the Business Conclave will focus on key thematic sectors of Agriculture, ICT, Logistics, Tourism, Renewable Energy, SME Development & Women’s entrepreneurship with B to B networking sessions.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Colombo
31 May 2024
Sri Lanka Ambassador-Designate to Saudi Arabia hosts an interactive dialogue with the Sri Lankan Tourism Destination Management Companies
Ambassador-designate of Sri Lanka to Saudi Arabia Omar Lebbe Ameer Ajwad held an interactive session at the Sri Lanka Embassy premises in Riyadh with the Chairpersons/representatives of Sri Lankan tourism Destination Management Companies (DMCs) who attended the Riyadh Travel Fair 2024 held in the Saudi capital from 27 – 29 May 2024. Sri Lanka Airlines country manager and a representative from Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau also participated.
The discussion focused on ways and means that would help to promote Sri Lankan tourism in Saudi Arabia in the years ahead. Ambassador-designate pointed out that tourism is a low-hanging fruit for supporting the country’s economy during this trying time of the country and invited active participation of Destination Management Companies in promoting Sri Lanka tourism in the Kingdom. Participants expressed useful ideas and agreed to work closely with the Sri Lanka Embassy in Riyadh for the promotion of Sri Lankan tourism in Saudi Arabia which is a highly potential market for Sri Lanka tourism.
As an outcome of the meeting it was agreed to establish a channel of communication between the Embassy and the Destination Management Companies to implement the programmes that were identified during the meeting.
Mr. Mohamed Anas, HoC and Mrs. Tashma Vithanawasam, Second Secretary/Commerce of the Sri Lanka Embassy in Riyadh also participated during the discussion.
Sri Lanka Participates at Riyadh Travel Fair – 2024
The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Riyadh in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tourism Board, has organized Sri Lanka’s participation at the Riyadh Travel Fair 2024, after a long gap of five years, being held in Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center from May 27th to 29th. 2024. The Travel Fair aims to foster networking among tour and travel operators.
18 Sri Lanka tourism Destination Management Companies (DMCs), Sri Lankan Airlines, and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau are attending the event.
Ambassador-designate of Sri Lanka to Saudi Arabia Omar Lebbe Ameer Ajwad inaugurated the Sri Lanka pavilion of the destination management companies. Addressing the gathering Ambassador Ameer Ajwad highlighted Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia tourism in the historical context and emphasized the importance of sharing updated information in Arabic language on Sri Lanka as a tourist destination. He also highlighted the initiatives introduced by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh to promote Sri Lanka tourism in the Kingdom such as Arabic website named “AHLAN SRI LANKA,” and the launch of Ibn Batuta and Adam’s Peak trail which could be utilized by the DMCs.
During the event, videos showcasing Sri Lanka’s tourist attractions were displayed and tourist materials were distributed among the visitors. Sri Lankan School children performed cultural dances demonstrating country’s cultural heritage.
The event is being attended by 250 exhibiters from more than 25 countries.
Ambassador – designate of Sri Lanka to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ameer Ajwad assumes duties
Ambassador-designate of Sri Lanka to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Omar Lebbe Ameer Ajwad officially assumed his duties on 27 May 2024. The occasion was marked by a simple ceremony organized by the staff of the Embassy at the Sri Lankan Embassy premises in Riyadh.
Addressing the staff Ambassador Ameer Ajwad emphasized the need for elevating the existing bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia in to new heights while highlighting the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries that falls this year.
Ambassador Ameer Ajwad is a career diplomat with 26 years of experience in the Sri Lanka Diplomatic Service. Prior to his appointment he served as the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka in charge of Foreign Ministry’s Planning, Implementation, & Performance Review including Bilateral Treaties; Political Affairs (Africa Region); Consular Affairs; as well as Emergency Response Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He has also served as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Sultanate of Oman with the concurrent accreditation to the Republic of Yemen (2019 – 2022). His diplomatic assignments entailed in Singapore as Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner (Actg.) (2018 – 2019) with the concurrent accreditation to Brunei Darussalam, Deputy High Commission of Sri Lanka in Chennai, India (2011 – 2015), the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland (2005 – 2009) and the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Riyadh, KSA (2000 – 2003).
Ambassador Ameer Ajwad holds a Master’s Degree in Laws (LL.M) from the University of Colombo. He also holds Bachelor’s Degree in Arts (BA) from the University of Peradeniya and a Bachelor’s Degree in Laws (LL.B) from the University of Colombo. He was admitted to the Bar as an Attorney- at- Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 1997.
He served as a member of the National Committee for Official Languages Policy Implementation (NCOLPI) of Sri Lanka as well as a member of the National Advisory Committee on Migration for Employment (NACME) representing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is also a visiting Lecturer at the National Defence College of Sri Lanka (NDC).
Ambassador Ameer Ajwad authored a book recently on international relations titled: “Sri Lanka – Oman Relations: Past, Present and Future.”
He speaks English, Arabic, Sinhala and Tamil languages.