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by Mohammed Rasooldeen in Riyadh

Minister of Mass Communication Imthiasz Bakeer Markar who was on a visit to Saudi Arabia described the postal and telecommunication services in the Kingdom as excellent. The minister was making these remarks when he visited the General Post Office in Riyadh on an invitation from the Director General of Posts Dr. Khalid Faris al Otaibi last Sunday.

On arrival at the headquarters of the General Post Office in Batha, the Minister and his visiting team were received by the Director General and his senior officials.

The Sri Lankan Ambassador Ibrahim Sahib Ansar was also present. The Minister toured the facilities of the postal system and was hosted for a luncheon by Dr. Otaibi in the afternoon.

Minister Bakeer Markar said that Sri Lanka can learn a lot from the postal and telecommunication services in the Kingdom since most of the services are electronically operated and service oriented. "There are many things in this postal system that are new to us and we can transfer this technology to Sri Lanka in order to improve its postal and telecommunication services," Markar said.

The minister also said that there is a good scope for the two countries to exchange their experiences in the field of telecommunications, information technology, posts and media.

In his introductory speech, Dr. Otaibi said that Sri Lanka and Kingdom has strong links through the postal system since a large volume of mails are being exchanged between the two countries because of the presence of a large number of Sri Lankan expatriates in the Kingdom.

He said, annually some 2.4 million letters are sent to Sri Lanka from the Kingdom by the expatriates and similarly an equal number is received from Sri Lankans from their friends, businessmen and relatives.

A reasonably good volume of letters are sent though Speed Post, Mumtaz Bareed too, the director general said.

Speaking at a special assembly held at the Sri Lankan International school in Riyadh, the minister emphasised the importance of education and appealed to all students to learn now and earn later after completing their studies successfully.

With the restoration of peace in Sri Lanka, he said, a large number of tourists are coming to the island and the tourist hotels are running at full capacity during this season. He pointed out that the country could only prosper through Peace.

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