Omar Zuraik Kamil (born 29 August 1949) is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n politician and diplomat. He served as

Mayor of Colombo The Mayor of Colombo is the Mayor (and head) of the Colombo Municipal Council. The post was created in 1866 when the Colombo Municipal Council was established by the Legislative Council of Ceylon. The Mayor is assisted by the Deputy Mayor and a ...

and Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Republic of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Early life and education

Born in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

, he was educated at Royal Primary School (1955) and

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...

(1961). He studied management accounting at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and business administration at the

Aquinas University Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...

in Colombo. In Oct-2003, the Open International University conferred on him an honorary doctorate (Ph.D) in political science.

Business career

Kamil did a stint in finance under the tutelage of Chief Accountant

P. S. Soosaithasan Pilesiyan Sosai Soosaithasan ( ta, பிலேசியன் சூசை சூசைதாசன், translit=Pilēciyaṉ Cūcai Cūcaitācaṉ; 24 July 1934 – 13 October 2017) was a Sri Lankan Tamil accountant, politician and Member of ...

(later the TULF MP for

Mannar Mannar may refer to the following places: India * Mannar, Alappuzha, a town in Chengannur Taluk, Kerala Sri Lanka * Mannar District, one of 25 districts in Sri Lanka ** Mannar Island, an island within the district **Mannar Bridge, a bridge connect ...

in July 1977) at the state-owned handloom and textile manufacturer adjunct to the Ministry of Trade, Sri Lanka State Trading (Textile) Corporation, now Lanka Salu Sala Ltd, Colombo, in which his father MHM Kamil held directorship (1969/May-1970) in the Dudley Senanayake government of 1965-1970. Thereafter, Kamil was inducted into his flourishing family business; the leading hosiers, haberdashers and the parasol people: Messrs WM Hassim in

Pettah, Colombo Pettah is a neighbourhood in Colombo, Sri Lanka located east of the city centre Fort, and behind the Colombo Port. The Pettah neighborhood is famous for the Pettah Market, a series of open air bazaars and markets. It is one of Sri Lanka's busi ...

Political career

In May 1979 Kamil was elected to the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) as a member for the Kuppiyawatta East ward in the

Borella Borella is the largest suburb in Colombo, Sri Lanka represented by divisional code 8. Demographic Borella is a multi-religious and multi-ethnic area. The major ethnic communities in Borella are Sinhalese and Tamils. There are also various other ...

electorate. He was appointed as Deputy Mayor in April 1997, and succeeded Karu Jayasuriya as Mayor of Colombo in April 1999. In 2001, Colombo City came first among 60-competing cities at the Mayors’ Asia Pacific Environmental Summit in Hawaii. Kamil was appointed by President

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...

to serve as Chief City Administrator of the CMC on two occasions in 2006 and 2009/10, and also as Special Municipal Commissioner in 2010/11. On 22 December 2015, the Minister of Industries and Commerce, Rishad Bathiudeen, appointed Kamil as Chairman of the National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA).

Diplomatic service

In January, 2003, Kamil was appointed as Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the Republic of

, accredited to

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

and

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

. In the following year, Kamil successfully negotiated lifting the Iranian ban on Sri Lanka tea imports to Iran which had prevailed since 2001. On behalf of oil imports from Teheran, he negotiated the dispensation of prime bank guarantees on letters of credit (L/Cs) established by Peoples Bank for crude oil purchases by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO), prevailing for over 25-years, thereby saving enormous amounts of money in foreign exchange for CEYPETCO. In November, 2004, he pioneered in establishing the Sri Lanka Trade Fair in Teheran where almost 50-companies, which included the Sri Lanka Tea Board and the Sri Lanka Export Development Board, participated.

Social work

Kamil served as secretary at the Moors’ Islamic Cultural Home, Inc. in Colombo, from June 1987 up to 27 August 2008. He was elected as the 4th MICH president on 27 August 2009 and holds that position up to date. Kamil was awarded the Medal of Merit from Lions International in the year 2001.

References