Ceylon chamber appoints its first female CEO
View(s):Veteran civil servant Dhara Wijayatilake has been appointed as the CEO of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), from March 1, the first-ever female to be appointed to this post. She replaces Mangala P. B. Yapa, who has resigned to take up a position as the Head of the proposed Agency for Development under the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade. Ms. Wijayatilake, who had functioned as the CEO of The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka,an affiliate body of the CCC (October 2015 – February 2016), counts over four decades of extensive experience in several senior positions in the public sector, according to media release issued by the CCC.
An Attorney-At-Law by profession and a graduate in law LL.B (Ceylon), Ms. Wijayatilake holds the distinction of being the first woman to be appointed as Secretary to a Cabinet Ministry in the country with her appointment as the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice in 1994. During her career in the public service (1974-2015), she has also functioned as the Secretary to the Ministry of External Trade, Justice and Constitutional Affairs, the Ministry of Plan Implementation and the Ministry of Technology and Research. In the private sector she serves as a Director of Sampath Bank PLC, and a Director of the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA). She is also a member of the Public Service Commission and a member of the Law Commission of Sri Lanka.