Mr. A M P M B Atapattu currently serves as a Secretary to the Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Food Security and he has over 28 years of work experience in Banking, Finance and Business Administration.
He graduated from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura with a BSc in Management (Public Administration) Second Class Upper Division Degree. He also holds a Master’s Degree in International Development from Flinders University, Australia, and has completed two postgraduate diplomas: Economic Development from the University of Colombo and Development Economy from the Institute of Development Economies, Japan. His research topic for his Master’s Degree in International Development awarded by Flinders University in 2004 was “Rationalisation for Industrial Development in Sri Lanka”. In addition, holds a Licentiate Certificate from the ICASL, Sri Lanka.
Before assuming the current position he worked as a Senior Additional Secretary to the President of Sri Lanka and was assigned the duties of economic reforms in the section of Stabilisation Recovery and Growth of the economy. As the Director General, (Planning) of the Ministry of Education he was in charge of preparing the Capital Budget of the Ministry and monitoring the development projects of the Ministry. Further, as a Deputy Secretary to the Treasury, he was in charge of donor funding projects, implementation of trade and tariff policies of the Government, and monitoring of the national budget. Also, he has initiated the ‘Enterprise Sri Lanka Subsidiary Loan & Development Programme’ as a national budget proposal of the Government.
Mr. Atapattu has also functioned as Director General of the Department of Development. In that capacity, he has initiated warehouse receipts financing system for grain farmers and fertiliser cash subsidy scheme for farmers. Further, he has implemented Refinance Loan Schemes called “Small and Medium Enterprise Regional Development Project” (SMERDP) funded by the Asian Development Bank, “Small and Medium Enterprise Development Facility Project” (SMEDeF) funded by the World Bank, and “Small and Medium Enterprises Line of Credit (SMELoC) funded by the Asian Development Bank. In addition, he has executed the SME Development Programme funded by the German International Cooperation (GIZ) as well as the “Rooftop Solar Power Generation Line of Credit Project” (RSPGLoC) funded by the Asian Development Bank.
Mr Atapattu has also performed his duties as the Treasury Representative on the Board of Investments, People’s Bank, Sri Lankan Airline Limited, Sri Lanka Tea Board, National Lotteries Board, Sri Lanka Savings Bank, Lankaputhra Development Bank, Cooperative Wholesale Establishments, University of Vocational Technology and the Insurance Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka.
Chairman
Mr. Sujeewa Rajapakse
Mr Sujeewa Rajapakse is a Managing Partner of BDO Partners, a firm of Chartered Accountants. A Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (FCA) and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Management Accountants of Sri Lanka (FCMA) and a Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Mr Rajapakse holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), University of Sri Jayewardenepura. During his professional career that spanned nearly four decades, he held the honorary positions of President, Vice President and Council Member (elect) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka), Former Chairman of Auditing Standards Committee of CA Sri Lanka, President of Practicing Accountants Forum of Sri Lanka, Treasurer of Sri Lanka Cricket, Treasurer for Cricket World Cup 2011, Board Member and Technical Advisor to South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), Technical Advisor to Confederation of Asia Pacific Accountants (CAPA). Currently he is serving as the Board Member at Haycarb PLC, Dipped Products PLC, Hayleys Agriculture Holdings Ltd. and Lanka Holdings (Pvt) Ltd. Also, he is a Council Member of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
He was the Chairman of People’s Leasing & Finance PLC. He has served in the directorates of National Development Bank PLC, NDB Capital Holdings Ltd. – Bangladesh, The Finance Company PLC (appointed by the CBSL under the restructuring programme) Unidil Packaging Ltd. & Unidil Packaging and Solutions Ltd., and Deputy Chairman of Softlogic Life Insurance PLC.
His expertise includes all accounting and auditing standards and practices, Government regulations related to financial disciplines and ethics, human resource management and overall management practices and principles in both private and public sectors.
Director
Mr. Kumar Gunawardana
Kumar Gunawardana was appointed to the Board of Directors of People’s Bank on 26.12.2019 as a non-executive director. He commands over 40 years of experience in diverse areas of banking. Having started his career with Commercial Bank PLC in 1979, he has moved on to Amsterdam Rotterdam Bank (Amro Bank), ABN Amro Bank and finally to National Development Bank PLC (NDB). He has served in Senior Management positions for over 20 Years having first appointed as an Assistant Vice President of ABN AMRO Bank in the year 2000. His areas of expertise is wide and varied and include Branch network management, Institutional banking, Trade finance, Operations, Administration and services.
He has also served as a Member of the Board of Directors of Development Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd. which is an entity jointly owned by National Development Bank PLC (NDB) and Export Development Board (EDB) and Treasurer of Sri Lanka Tennis Association.
Director
Mr. Dushan Soza
Dushan Soza is a highly accomplished professional with a diverse background in the BPO industry, banking sector, and community service. He served as the Managing Director of WNS Global Services Sri Lanka for 15 years, successfully building the business from scratch to over Rs 1 billion in revenue, serving marquee global customers. As a founding member of SLASSCOM, he played a vital role in shaping the IT/BPO industry in Sri Lanka.
Dushan has also served on the board of Softlogic Finance, chairing the IT and Risk committees. Currently, he runs BPMOne, a company specializing in transformation and process reengineering. His key skills in banking include core banking, workflows, FinTechs, and digital technologies. He has also made contributions in consumer affairs, serving on the Consumer Affairs Board.
Additionally, Dushan holds board positions in Phoenix Pvt Ltd and PrintCare Digital, and he advises the Port City Economic Commission. He is a dedicated member of the Rotary community, serving as the District Governor for Sri Lanka and Maldives and as a member of the Strategic Committee at Rotary International.
Director
Mr. Udeni Samararatne
Udeni. K. Samarararatne is an experienced senior finance professional with a career spanning over 35 years. He has worked in senior finance positions in quoted companies such as Sri Lanka Telecom PLC. which is one of Sri Lanka’s largest companies where he worked as the Chief Financial Officer. He has also worked at leading local companies such as Lanka Ashok Leyland PLC., Kelani Tyres PLC. , ACME PLC., Richard Pieris PLC. and multinational companies such as Noritake of Japan one of the world’s largest porcelain ware manufacturers, Ferrero of Luxembourg one of the world’s largest chocolate manufacturers, CEAT of India which is in a joint venture agreement for producing tyres with Kelani Tyres PLC of Sri Lanka.
He is qualified in ACCA U.K and CIMA U.K. He also holds an MBA from the Swiss Business School in Zurich Switzerland, a Higher Diploma in International Relations from the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies and a Diploma in Professional Diplomacy and World Affairs from the Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute. He also holds a Master’s qualification from the Colombo University in Financial Economics.
Director
Mr. Dushmantha Thotawatte
Mr Dushmantha Thotawatte was appointed to the Board of Directors with effect from 8 July 2022. Mr Thotawatte is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka with a Bachelor of Commerce (Special Degree) from the University of Sri Jayawardenepura & a Master in Financial Economics from the University of Colombo. He is an accomplished leader who has extensive experience in the field of Financial Management, Corporate Governance, Strategic Management, and Public Relations. He counts over 40 years of experience and possesses a successful track of holding positions such as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Internal Auditor in many state-owned enterprises and private organisations.
