The presentation of credentials was followed by a courtesy call on Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum during which the Ambassador conveyed greetings from President
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and the People of Sri Lanka to President of UAE Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler
of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, all the other rulers and the People of the United Arab Emirates.
During the courtesy call the Ambassador mentioned that Sri Lanka – United Arab Emirates friendly relations have grown exponentially covering a multitude of areas with mutual
benefits and he also stated that Sri Lanka hopes to further uplift the existing bilateral relations to the best friend status. Speaker of Federal National Council Saqr Ghobash, Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al
Nahyan, and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan also attended the Credential ceremony
Following the credential ceremony a reception was held at the “Sri Lanka House” the Official Residence of the Ambassador for business leaders, bankers, entrepreneurs, Sri
Lankan Community and Embassy and Consulate staff.
Ambassador, Malraj De Silva is a carrier administrator in various capacities. His primary and secondary education was completed at Ananda College, Colombo, graduated as a
Civil Engineer, completed Electrical Engineering from Council of Engineering Institutions (England) and Building Official from International Conference of Building Officials (USA).
He was directly enlisted to Sri Lanka Army Engineering Corps, Area Quantity Surveyor in charge of all construction activities in Northern Palace in Sultanate of Oman and became
the Supervising Manager for the Construction Inspection Department of Construction Management Unit of Los Angeles County Development Authority prior to becoming the
Ambassador. He was appointed as the Consul General of Los Angeles and Eight Western States of the United States of America. He is married to Ranjanie De Silva, having three
children and four grandchildren.