Board of Directors and their Profiles
Mr. N.J.H.M. Cooray
(Chairman)
Executive Director
Hiran Cooray has over 25 years experience in the hotel industry. He has represented Sri Lanka on the Board of PATA since 1996 and currently the Immediate Past Chairman of this prestigious Association. In addition to his degree from the University of North Carolina in Business Administration, he has successfully completed a senior management course in Hotel Management at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Whilst holding 50 directorships in various Hotels and related companies, he has also held the positions of President of the Tourist Hotels’ Association of Sri Lanka (2005-2008), and Chairman of PATA Sri Lanka Chapter (2003-04). He is presently on the Board of Small Luxury Hotels of the World representing the Asia Pacific region and also a board member of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. He regularly represents Sri Lanka and the Asia Pacific at tourism related international forums as a speaker/panelist.
Mr. R.A.E. Samarasinghe
(Managing Director)
Executive Director
Mr. Ruan Samarasinghe has been a doyen of the Hospitality Industry for close to 40 years. He has guided Jetwing through its formative years and has pioneered several developments over the last three decades. He oversees all Jetwing operations and represents the organization in principal hospitality forums. In addition to his pivotal role as Managing Director, he also serves on several other Directorates.
Ms. N.T.M.S. Cooray
Non-Executive Director
Ms. Shiromal Cooray is the Managing Director of Jetwing Travels (Pvt) Ltd., one of the largest inbound tour operators to Sri Lanka. She holds several other directorates. She is a past President of Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators and was the former Finance Director of J. Walter Thompson Ltd. (JWT) Colombo and has work experience in finance in the UK and Hong Kong. She holds an MBA and is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of the UK.
Mr. N. Wadugodapitiya
Non-Executive Independent Director
Is a Fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK. His business experience spanning over 40 years includes senior management positions both in private and public sector institutions in Sri Lanka and in Abu Dhabi, UAE. He has served in organizations involved in manufacturing, marketing and distribution, private equity fund management and services sectors. He has served on several boards of Directors including companies engaged in venture capital/private equity fund management, fabric manufacturing, thermal power generation, plantation management, marketing and distribution and packaging. At present he holds the position of Managing Director, Jinasena (Pvt) Ltd.
Mr. C.S.R.S. Anthony
Executive Director
Mr. Anthony is an Attorney-at-Law, Notary Public, Commissioner for Oaths and a Registered Company Secretary. He is also a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK, Chartered Global Management Accountant, a Fellow Member of The Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka and a Fellow Member of Certified Professional Managers. He commenced his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, prior to joining Jetwing Hotels Limited as Finance Manager in 1996 and is currently the Executive Director. He is also serving on several Directorates including three Publicly Quoted companies. Sanjeewa is a Life Member of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), and a Delegate of the Bar Council of the BASL. He is also a Committee Member of the Finance Committee of BASL.
Mr. R. de Silva
Non-Executive Independent Director
Mr. Ranil de Silva pursued his tertiary education in Australia where he obtained a Diploma in Visual Communications. He returned to Sri Lanka in 1981 and joined JWT Colombo as their first Sri Lankan employee. After starting as a Junior Account Executive at JWT, he rose to International Vice-President and was also Managing Director of the Colombo office. He was posted to JWT Jakarta and also served as a Regional Account Director for JWT Asia Pacific based in Singapore. In 1999 he returned to Sri Lanka to set-up the Colombo office of Leo Burnett. Starting with just a few people in his team and a shared office he has taken Leo Burnett to great heights. Last year, Leo Burnett Solutions Inc., was named Campaign Asia’s Agency of the Year in South Asia. He served as the President of the International Advertising Association (IAA) Sri Lanka Chapter for two terms and was also a member of the worldwide Board of Directors of the IAA. He has also been a Director in their family owned business - Cyril Rodrigo Restaurants. Ranil is passionate about everything he does, he loves to see the world, stay in great places and enjoys the arts.
Mr. E.P.A. Cooray
Non-Executive Independent Director
Mr. Prema Cooray is the immediate Past Chairman of Aitken Spence PLC having led the Hotels Sector of the Company for a considerable period of time. Mr. Cooray was a Past President of the Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (1998-2000) and was the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau (2007-2009). He serves as Chairman of The Rainforest Ecolodge, Deniyaya on an unique pioneering Ecotorium initiative supported by leading hotel companies in Sri Lanka. Mr. Cooray also represents many public listed companies as a director.
He serves as a Member of the Tourism Cluster of National Council for Economic Development (NCED) and also serves as a Member of the Grants Board of ICTA. He served as the Secretary-General/CEO of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (2003-2008) and presently heads the Project Management Arm of the Chamber - CCC Solutions (Pvt) Ltd.
Mr. Cooray was recently accorded the national honour as a ‘Legend’ by Sri Lanka Tourism.
Mr. Cooray has a MBA from the University of Sri Jayawardenepura, is a Certified Management Accountant and he is also a Member of the Institute of Hospitality, UK.
Ms. A.M. Ondaatjie
Non-Executive Director
Ms. Angeline Ondaatjie is the Joint Managing Director of Tangerine Beach Hotels PLC and Royal Palms Beach Hotels PLC. She has over 15 years experience in tourism, financial services and manufacturing sectors. She holds a Masters Degree from the University of Texas in Austin, USA and a BSc Degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology USA. She is the Managing Director of Tangerine Tours (Pvt) Ltd. She holds directorship in several companies including Mercantile Investments and Finance PLC, The Nuwara Eliya Hotels Co. PLC (Grand Hotel), Nilaveli Beach Hotels (Pvt) Ltd. and Phoenix Industries Ltd. She is presently a committee member of the Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka.
Dr. C. Pathiraja
Non-Executive Independent Director
Director-General, Ministry of Economic Development, Chairman of Development Lotteries Board, P&A Global Solutions (Pvt) Ltd., Singapore and several other companies both local and abroad. He holds BV (Sc) Degrees from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, a Diploma in Business Studies and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management. He is a member of the British Fertility Society in the United Kingdom and the SLVA, Sri Lanka.
Mr. T. Nadesan
Non-Executive Independent Director
Mr. T. Nadesan is the Chairman of Hotel Developers (Lanka) PLC, the owning Company of Hilton Colombo. He is also a Director of Waters Edge Ltd. and Lanka Hotels and Residencies (Private) Ltd. Mr. Nadesan has served as a Group Director of the Maharaja Organization and was an Assistant Vice President of the American Express Bank, Colombo. He holds a BA (Hons) degree in Business Studies from University of Middlesex, UK.
Mr. A.T.P. Edirisinghe
Non-Executive Independent Director
Mr. Edirisinghe is a Fellow Member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (UK) and holds a Diploma in Commercial Arbitration. He was the Senior Partner of HLB Edirisinghe & Co., Chartered Accountants and currently serves as Consultant/Advisor. He is the Managing Director of PE Management Consultants (Pvt) Ltd. He counts over 43 years experience; of which 27 years in the public practice and 16 years in the private sector having held senior positions. He serves on the Boards of some other quoted companies where in some Companies he also serves as Chairman/Member of the Audit Committee and as Chairman/Member of the Remuneration Committee.