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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Sri Lanka has officially opened an honorary consulate in the Kurdistan Region capital of Erbil on Tuesday, with plans to begin consular services within three months.
Sri Lanka's Ambassador to Iraq Niranjan Ranasinghe attended the ceremony in Erbil with the KRG's head of Foreign Relations Falah Mustafa, among others.
Ranasinghe told Rudaw that he was "extremely happy" they were able to receive approval from the government of Iraq to open the office.
This is the seventh honorary consul in Erbil.
Mustafa welcomed the Sri Lankan mission, describing it as a "step forward" for relations between the two, adding he hoped it will soon be a Consulate General.
Ahmad Jalal, the honorary consul who is a Kurd, said the mission may be able to get approval to issue visas and passport, or offer help to businesses "in the near future, hopefully in the coming two or three months."
There are more than 3,000 Sri Lankans currently living in the Kurdistan Region – this is some 85 to 90 percent of all Sri Lankans in Iraq, the ambassador told Rudaw.
Iraq is among the top five importers of tea from Sri Lanka. Tea is the drink of choice for many people in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
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