[ALUMNI-INFO TEXT="Even with a stellar career in the private sector, the call to serve the public was too loud to ignore. Duminda Ariyasinghe now uses his education and global experience to advance Sri Lanka, but sustainable change takes time."][/ALUMNI-INFO]
I had promised my late father that I would return to Sri Lanka to serve the public, and when the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) advertised for a senior position, I applied successfully.” Duminda has come a long way since then, and has been serving as Director General/CEO of BOI for the past three years.
But it was not just the promise to his father that motivates him. Duminda recognises that he has the ability to make a difference in the lives of others. “Working in the public sector in South Asia is not for the faint of heart. I thought my education and global experience could help Sri Lanka.”
[ALUMNI-QUOTES TEXT="Duminda certainly has the experience. Working with Canadian and US Fortune 500 companies like Kraft Foods and Heinz, he excelled. His accolades include the Superior Achievement Award, considered the highest award at Kraft Foods. An advertisement that he led was also selected as the most effective global advertisement in 2001 by global research company Advertising Research Systems (ARS).
His education and experience helped him to "lead by example" and play a “key role in building a more transparent, merit-based, performance-oriented agency focused on maximum facilitation for investors.” Notably, the Single Window Investment Taskforce (SWIFT) approval system was set up, allowing “all major line agencies required to start a project” to be connected easily. Measures like this provide increased internal facilitation to compensate for the lack of tax exemption holidays for investors in Sri Lanka.
His experience at LKYSPP proved instrumental to his work in public service: “The classroom learnings, exposure to great minds and the sharing of experience among fellow alumni all brace you to face the next greater challenge.”"][/ALUMNI-QUOTES]
For the future of Sri Lanka, Duminda is both a “pragmatist and optimist” as he looks to further increase rates of foreign investment into the country.