New Lankan Ambassador in Saudi to woo tourists, investments

AzmiThassimand Mohammed Rasooldeen

By Mohammed Rasooldeenin Riyadh

Sri Lanka’s new Ambassador to Saudi Arabia said here that he would lift the image of the Saudi sponsors in Sri Lanka and he would also try to promote Sri Lanka as a popular tourist and investment destination in the Kingdom.

“There is a mistaken notion that the Saudi sponsors who hire housemaids from Colombo are cruel and inconsiderate,” Thassim said, pointing out that people cannot come to conclusions based on sporadic incidents that happen in various parts of the Kingdom.

“We have more than 400,000 housemaids working in the Kingdom and complaints from them are minimal when compared to the housemaid population in Saudi Arabia,” he noted.

The envoy pointed out that there are thousands of maids who like to go back to their sponsors as soon after their vacation in Colombo. “This shows that the working population are content with the working conditions and their employers care during their stay in the Kingdom,” he added.

He said that there are hundreds of Saudi families come to the airport with their families to receive their returning maidservants to offer them a warm welcome.

Thassim also said that he intends giving a new boost to Sri Lanka’s tourism in the Kingdom. “We see a remarkable increase in Arab tourists coming to the island, particularly from Saudi Arabia,” he said, adding that Sri Lanka is an island that could offer the best to Saudi tourists for family holiday, children’s entertainment and for honeymooning.

“There are several areas where Saudi businessmen could invest in viable sectors,” he said, adding that these new sectors will be unfolded to Saudi entrepreneurs during his tenure of office. He pointed out that Gammon Group, Jeddah-based company has expressed its willingness in Colombo to invest huge amounts to build a free zone in Polannaruwa.

AzmiThassim was born in Hambantota in 1957 as the eldest of the family. His father was M.R.Thassim, who was a leading lawyer, Chairman of the Hambantota Urban Council and the first Sri Lankan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Azmi received his early education in Hambantota, Rahula Matara, St. Thomas’ Gurutalawa and Open University of Sri Lanka.

Thassim’s wife is Sithi Dane Arfa, who retired last month as a High Court Judge. He has a son Mohammed Shameer and daughter Nitashi Abu Zaid, who are involved in business in the island.

Together with a group of local businessmen, Thassim was instrumental in establishing the Chamber of Commerce in Hambantota, which was the first district level chamber in Sri Lanka. He was the founder president and is currently the President of the Past Presidents’ Consortium of the HDCC.

Under his guidance and leadership HDCC has grown to better serve the needs and promote the interests of its members as well as of the entire business community and young people in the district, and across regions.

Thassim served for 11 years as the Chairman of the Hambantota Youth Business Trust (HYBT) which helps young potential entrepreneurs with financial assistance and business mentoring. He is also a founder trustee of Youth Business Sri Lanka (YBSL), which is the body through which the Youth Business Programme is taken country-wide. 

Thassim also initiated a Career Service Centre to guide unemployed youth towards securing employment. A Women’s Entrepreneur Forum was also established in Hambantota under Azmi’s leadership.