Anura Ekanayake

Dr. Anura Ekanayake was appointed as a Director to the Board of Elpitiya Plantations PLC on January 09, 2009. He was the Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce during the period August 2009 to July 2011 and the immediate past Chairman of the Industrial Association of Sri Lanka.

He started his professional career in the public sector and served in a number of senior Sri Lankan Government positions before moving to the private sector. He has held several key positions in the Plantation Sector, first serving as the Director of Planning at the Ministry of Plantation Industries and thereafter as Director General (Development) of the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs and Plantation Industries.

He served on the Boards of Janatha Estate Development Board (J.E.D.B.) and Sri Lanka State Plantation Corporation (S.L.S.P.C.) prior to their privatization and thereafter served on the Boards of all 23 RPC’s for several years. During this period, he also served as a member of the Tea Research Board as well as the Board of the Post Graduate Institute of Agriculture of University of Peradeniya. During his public-sector tenure, he also held a number of international positions including that of the Chairman of international Natural Rubber Organisation based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

He holds a PhD in Economics from Australia National University where he conducted research on ‘Economics of human capital’. He has widely published in Sri Lanka and abroad on economics, human capital, agriculture and environment related areas. His current professional interests are supporting businesses on organisational transformation including culture change and coaching young professionals to realise their full potential.