On Tuesday, in honor of Sri Lanka’s 76th Independence Day, the embassy hosted a reception. Kandeepan Balasubramaniam, the ambassador of Sri Lanka to Kuwait, commended the two countries’ bilateral ties in his remarks. Since 1971, there have been established diplomatic ties between the State of Kuwait and Sri Lanka. The footsteps left by Kuwaiti pearl divers date back to Sri Lanka’s primordial past. Over 130,000 Sri Lankans live in Kuwait, and their presence and contributions have grown over the years to be a major factor in our many and varied relationships with this wonderful country, the speaker stated.

The significant Sri Lankan population in Kuwait, according to Ambassador Bala, is a strong link between the two countries. She also mentioned that in recent years, efforts have been made to diversify the employment of migrant workers in Kuwait from traditional sectors to a wide range of professional and skilled jobs.

“I express my gratitude to the corporate world and business organizations for their confidence in and acknowledgement of Sri Lanka’s skilled, knowledgeable, and adaptable labor force. He remarked, “I am happy to see that two-way commerce has posted some reasonable results throughout the years on the bilateral front. In terms of tourism, the ambassador disclosed that while migrant labor deployment has expanded and become more diverse, the number of visitor arrivals doubled in the previous year. Most significantly, Kuwait’s remittances are still increasing.

He emphasized that Sri Lanka is dedicated to international cooperation and actively participates in bilateral and multilateral engagements to address global issues like climate change, economic development, peace and security, and upholding its shared responsibility as a nation. “The Kuwait Fund remains an important source that supports several important infrastructure projects that contribute to the socioeconomic development of our society,” he said. In addition, Bala thanked Kuwaitis on February’s National and Liberation Days.

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Sri Lanka took over as the Indian Ocean Rim Association’s new leader a few months ago. We think that by maintaining our independence while being multi-aligned in our foreign policy, we have been able to meet these challenging obstacles and win over the wider international community. The development we have achieved in the last eighteen months is astounding. After dropping from 70% in September 2022 to less than 5%, Sri Lanka’s inflation rate is now below 5%. “We sincerely believe Sri Lanka is within touching distance of achieving its true potential if we continue these difficult yet prudent economic policy reforms,” Bala stated.