Dr. Nalaka Godahewa has resigned from his post as Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, exactly one month after being appointed as the new Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Godahewa was appointed as SEC Chairman on August 28 under highly controversial circumstances after two of his predecessors Indrani Sugathadasa and Thilak Karunaratne resigned within 12 months following a drastic drop of market performance during April 2011 to August 2012.
Former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission Dr. Karunaratne handed over his resignation on August 17, as pressure was allegedly being exerted on the former politician by market players demanding his resignation from the top seat of the SEC.
Once rated the Asia’s second best performing stock market in Asia the CSE had become Asia’s worst performing stock market by mid 2012.
According to Bloomberg statistics, within the first two weeks of Godahewa’s appointment as SEC head, the market bounced back from world’s worst performing stock market status to the 3rd best performing stock market status.
The former CEO of Sri Lanka Insurance, Godahewa was appointed Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism in June 2010 while institutions such as the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, Sri Lanka Tourist Board, Sri Lanka Hotels Corporation came under his observation.
It was under his chairmanship that Sri Lanka Tourism started promoting a clear value proposition of the destination being authentic, compact and diverse under the new tagline ‘Refreshingly Sri Lanka, the Wonder of Asia’.
He has been commended by key corporate personalities in the country for creating a highly efficient and investor friendly management culture within a government organization and also for his highly strategic and focused approach towards developing tourism in the post war Sri Lanka.
He tendered his resignation as chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Sri Lanka Tourism Convention Bureau and the Institute of Hospitality Management effective 31 May, however remained as chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.
Dr. Nalaka Godahewa is academically qualified in three different disciplines of management, Engineering, Marketing and Finance and holds a BSc honours degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Moratuwa.
He holds an MBA from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura and a PhD in Marketing from the University of South Australia. Dr. Godahewa is also a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK), a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Management Accountants (UK) and a Member of the Certified Management Accountants (Australia). He is also a member in the board of Lanka Hospitals Limited.
Earlier he was the Managing Director of Sri Lanka Insurance, Director/ CEO Unilever Ceylon, Suntel and MAS Holdings. He functioned as a board member of the Seylan Bank during the turnaround period of 2008-2009.
Dr. Godahewa holds the honorary positions as Chairman of the local branch of the Global Marketing Network and as President of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Australia, Sri Lanka branch.
