COLOMBO :As we celebrate the ninety-fourth National Day of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we not only celebrate our past, but also envision a brighter future, a comprehensive, sustainable, innovative and prosperous future under the wise leadership of the Kingdom.
On this day, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia celebrates the ninety-fourth National Day of its founding by the founder King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud. On this day, every year, we recall the heroic positions taken by the founder to unite the Kingdom, unify its word and build its entity, and then all the kings completed the journey after him, achieving development and the Kingdom thus occupying a high economic and political position at the regional and global levels.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere congratulations and blessings to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and the generous Saudi people, wishing the Kingdom further progress and development under the wisdom and insight of its wise leadership.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the reign of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and under the vision of HRH Crown Prince, Prime Minister, has witnessed more giant development achievements in various fields and at all levels through the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, which carries within it promising future projects and deep strategic plans for the development of the Kingdom and the advancement of its citizens at all levels, whether educational, health, economic or cultural, and investing in human resources first through education and health and empowering youth and women, then development projects, which lie in projects such as: King Salman Park, NEOM, The Line, the New Square Project, the Saudi Green Initiative, the Middle East Green Initiative, the Diriyah Gate Project, the Qiddiya Project, the Al-Ula Development Project, the Rabigh Desalination Plant Project, the Amaala Project, the Sakaka Solar Energy Project, the Red Sea Project, and the King Salman Energy City Project.
The Kingdom is a key partner in maintaining international security and peace. During the past period, the Kingdom has hosted many summits, conferences and meetings with the aim of establishing international security and peace throughout the world. In addition to hosting economic, technical, sports and medical summits Such as the meetings on Gaza, the World Economic Forum, the Global AI Summit, and the eSports World Cup. The Kingdom’s victory in a number of international forums, the most important of which is its victory in organizing Expo 2030 in the capital, Riyadh, confirms the Kingdom’s international importance at all levels.
Recognizing the importance of alleviating human suffering worldwide, the Kingdom has generously provided nearly $131 billion in development aid to more than 171 countries, and implemented more than 7,090 humanitarian, relief and development projects, with the Kingdom ranking among the largest donor countries for humanitarian and relief aid worldwide. Sri Lanka had a share of this humanitarian aid represented by 18 projects at a cost of $15 million.
The Kingdom also attaches importance to preserving the environment, protecting the planet and reducing climate risks. This was crowned by the announcement by HRH Crown Prince and Prime Minister of a number of initiatives in this field, including the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative. The announcement of the establishment of a global water organization based in Riyadh, and increasing reliance on clean energy.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka have enjoyed distinguished bilateral relations for a long time, based on mutual respect and joint cooperation between the two countries. They have developed significantly in various fields and resulted in the signing of a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding between the two countries. The most recent of which was the memorandum of understanding on encouraging direct investment between the two countries. The recent mutual visits by senior officials of the two countries have contributed significantly to strengthening relations between the two countries.
Economically, the trade exchange between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Sri Lanka is witnessing increasing growth, reaching more than USD 400 million in 2023. The most important commodities exported by the Kingdom to Sri Lanka are metals, plastics, tanning materials, paints, cardboard and aluminum. In return, Sri Lanka exports a number of its products to the Kingdom, the most important of which are coffee, tea, spices, ready-made garments, fruits and fish. A number of topics related to the economic, commercial, investment, cultural, social and tourism fields emerged from the Saudi-Sri Lankan Joint Committee, which held its first meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during May 2023. This resulted in a meeting between Sri Lankan businessmen and officials of the Saudi Chamber of Commerce in Riyadh, and other meetings.
The Kingdom is a partner in supporting the development projects of the Republic of Sri Lanka, and the total amounts provided to implement these projects amounted to more than 455 million US dollars, focusing on health, education, irrigation, agriculture and road networks, including the current projects, the project to establish the College of Medicine at the University of Sabargamuwa, the development of the Wayamba University area and the “Kurinchakerni” Bridge project. The Kingdom also hosts approximately two hundred thousand Sri Lankans, in addition to the visit of thousands of Sri Lankans to the Kingdom to perform Umrah or Hajj or for tourism, in addition to granting a number of Sri Lankan students free scholarships in Saudi universities, where the number of graduates exceeded 500 students. Sri Lanka is also an important tourist and investment destination for many Saudi citizens.
Finally, I hope that Almighty Allah will grant our two friendly countries and peoples further success and progress.
