Advisory Work

• Government of Sri Lanka
• Private Sector, Sri Lanka
• International Organizations

Government of Sri Lanka

• National Human Resources and Employment Policy
  Member of Working Group on Macroeconomic Policies for Employment Expansion
  Secretariat for Senior Ministers
  August-October 2011

• Trade and Tariff Committee of the National Council for Economic Development
  Member of the Committee
  Ministry of Finance and Planning, Government of Sri Lanka
  August 2004 - August 2010

• Working Group on Economic Re-Integration of Ex-combatants
  Member of the Working Group
  Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights
  April-September 2009

• Sri Lankan Delegation to the Committee of Experts on Trade Negotiations on the South Asian Free Trade Agreement and Chair, Sub-Group on Rules of Origin
  Member of the Committee
  Ministry of Trade and Commerce, Government of Sri Lanka
  April-December 2004

• Technical Team on a proposed US-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement
  Member
  Ministry of Policy Development and Implementation, Government of Sri Lanka
  July 2003-April 2004

• Macro and Trade Policy Framework Steering Committee
  Member of the Committee
  Ministry of Finance and Planning, Government of Sri Lanka
  November 2002-April 2004

• Task Force on Trade
  Member
  Government of Sri Lanka
  December 2002-April 2004

• Macroeconomic Policy Development Group
  Member
  Ministry of Finance and Planning, Government of Sri Lanka
  April-June 2002

• Technical Committee on the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement
  Member of the Committee
  Ministry of Finance and Planning, Government of Sri Lanka
  October 2001-July 2002
  

Private Sector, Sri Lanka

• Centre for Poverty Analysis, Sri Lanka
  Member of Board of Directors
  January 2008-to date

• Nations Trust Bank, Sri Lanka
  Member of Board of Directors
  March 2007-to date

• National Asset Management Limited (NAMAL) Investment Committee, Sri Lanka
  Member of the Committee
  January 2007-to date

International Organizations

• Expert Group Meeting on Facilitating Global and Regional Trade
  United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP)
  14-15 December, 2009.

• Asia-Pacific Regional Trade Policy Course
  World Trade Organization (WTO)
  Faculty
  2004-2006

• Eminent Persons and Expert Group Meeting on Development Policy Issues
  United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) December, 2005/December 2002/December 2001

• Trade Facilitation and Human Development
  Regional Consultant
  UNDP-UN-ESCAP
  August, 2005

• UNDP Regional Human Development Report 2005
  Technical Consultant
  June, 2005

• UN- ESCAP
  International Trade Consultant
  October-December, 1997

Recent Publications

• “Sri Lanka’s Economic Reform Process: Progress and Constraints” in Dee, P., (ed.), Economic Reform Processes in South Asia: Towards Policy Efficiency, Routledge (forthcoming).

• “An Uncertain Future for Policy Reforms in South Asia”, East Asia Forum Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 3, Australian National University, 2011.

• “Sri Lanka” (with N. Arunatilake, and P. Jayawardena) in Kelegama, S., (ed.), Migration, Remittances and Development in South Asia, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2011.

• “Sri Lanka” (with S. Jayasuriya, N. Arunatilaka and P. Steele) in Jayasuriya, S., and P. McCawley (eds.), The Asian Tsunami: Aid and Reconstruction after a Disaster, Edward Elgar and Asian Development Bank Institute, 2010.

• “The Political Economy of Trade Integration in South Asia: The Role of India”, The World Economy, Vol. 33, No. 7, pp. 851-957, 2010.

• Bilateral FTAs in South Asia: Recasting the Regionalism Debate", The Lahore Journal of Economics, Vol. 14, pp. 155-170, 2009.

• “SAFTA: Current Status and Prospects” in Ahmed, S., S. Kelegama and E. Ghani (eds), Promoting Economic Cooperation in South Asia: Beyond SAFTA, World Bank and Sage Publications, India, 2010.

• “Country Investment Study: Sri Lanka” (with J. Thennakoon) in Intraregional Trade and Investment in South Asia, Manila: Asian Development Bank, 2009.

• “Sri Lanka”, in J. Francois, P. Rana and G. Wignaraja (ed.), National Strategies for Regional Integration: South and East Asian Case Studies, Manila: Asian Development Bank, 2009.

• "Trade Facilitation: Priorities for South Asia" (with J. Thennakoon) in B.S. Chimni et al (ed.), South Asian Yearbook of Trade and Development 2007-08: Harnessing Gains from Trade, Centre for Trade and Development (CENTAD), India, 2009.

• “SAFTA: Which Way Forward?” (with J. Thennakoon), Journal of South Asian Development, Vol. 3, No.1, 2008.

• “Economic Integration in South Asia: The Benefits of Bilateralism versus a Regional Approach” (with J. Thennakoon) South Asian Affairs, Vol.1, No.1, January-June 2008.

• “Linkages between Trade, Development and Poverty: Sri Lanka” (with J. Thennakoon) in M.A. Razzaque and S. Raihan (ed.), Trade, Development-Poverty Linkages: Reflections from Selected Asian and Sub-Saharan African Countries, Volume 1, CUTS International, India, 2008.

• “Economic Challenges of Post-Tsunami Reconstruction in Sri Lanka” (with S. Jayasuriya, N. Arunatilake and P. Steele), Discussion Paper No. 75, Tokyo: Asian Development Bank Institute, 2007.

• “Economic Cooperation in South Asia: Challenges and Constraints” in A.S. Raju (ed.), Reconstructing South Asia: An Agenda, Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi, 2007.

• “SAARC: Possibilities and Constraints” in A. Siddiqui (ed.), India and South Asia: Economic Development in the Age of Globalization, M.E. Sharpe: New York, 2006.

• “SAFTA: Myth of Free Trade” (with J. Thennakoon), Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 41, No. 37, 2006.

• “ Sri Lanka in the WTO Doha Round Negotiations: Issues and Concerns” (with J. Thennakoon), South Asian Journal, Vol. 12, 2006.

• “Multilateral Agreement on Trade Facilitation: An Important but Complex Agenda for South Asia " (with B. Weeraratne and J. Thennakoon), South Asian Positions in the WTO Doha Round: In Search of a True Development Agenda, CUTS International, Jaipur, 2005.

• “Post Tsunami Recovery: Issues and Challenges in Sri Lanka” (with S. Jayasuriya and P. Steele), Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) Research Paper No. 71, ADBI, Tokyo, Japan, 2005.

• “A Single Currency for South Asia: The Economics and Politics of Monetary Integration” (with S. Jayasuriya and N. Maskey), Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 40, No. 29, 2005.

• “The Influence of Development Ideology in Sri Lanka's Macroeconomic Policy Reform Process” in S. Kelegama (ed.) Economic Policy in Sri Lanka: Issues and Debates: A Festschrift in Honour of Gamani Corea, Sage Publication, India, 2004.

• “Globalization and South Asia : The Role of Foreign Direct Investment in Economic Development”, South Asian Survey, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2004.

Recent Reports

• “Macroeconomic Policy for Full and Productive Employment: Sri Lanka Country Study” (with N. Arunatilaka) for the International Labour Organization (ILO), Geneva (on-going).

• “Implementing Preferential Trade Agreements for Development: A Case Study for Sri Lanka” for the World Bank, Washington, D.C. (on-going).

• “Sri Lanka’s Economic Reforms: The Efficiency of Micro Reforms in South Asia”, for the South Asia Bureau of Economic Research (SABER), Australian National University, 2010.

• ”Different Approaches to Migration and its Impacts: A Sri Lankan Perspective” (with N. Arunatilake, S. Jayaratne, R. Jayaweera and P. Jayawardena) for the South Asia Network of Economic Institutes (SANEI), Pakistan, 2009.

• “Intraregional Trade and Investment in South Asia: Country Investment Study for Sri Lanka” (with J. Thennakoon), prepared for and funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila, 2008.

• “India-Sri Lanka FTA: Lessons for SAFTA” (with J. Thennakoon), prepared for and funded by CUTS, India and Commonwealth Secretariat, U.K., 2008.

• “Economic Cooperation between East Asia and South Asia: Sri Lanka Country Study”, prepared for and funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila, 2007.

Recent Presentations

• Economic Development and Regional Integration
  “Collaborative Security Framework for South Asia”
  Organized by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA)
  New Delhi, India
  15-16 November, 2011

• Managing Migration and Remittances: A Sri Lankan Perspective
  “Fourth South Asia Economic Summit: Global Recovery, New Risks and Sustainable Growth”
  Organized by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)
  Dhaka, Bangladesh
  22-23 October, 2011

• Macroeconomic Policy for Full and Productive Employment and Decent Work for All: Sri Lanka Country Study
  “Employment Policy Knowledge Building Workshop”
  Organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO)
  Geneva, Switzerland
  20-23 September, 2011

• Political Economy of Policymaking: A South Asian Perspective
  “Workshop on East and South Asia Economic Integration”
  Organized by the Australian National University
  Canberra, Australia
  17-19 August, 2011

• Effective Implementation of PTAs: Case Study of Sri Lanka
  “WTO/ESCAP Regional Seminar on the WTO and Regional Trade Agreements for Asian Economies”
  Organized by the WTO/ESCAP
  Bangkok, Thailand
  25-27 July, 2011

• Sri Lanka: Lessons from the Tsunami Disaster
  "Regional Policy Workshop on Regional Economic Integration"
  Organized by the Asian Development Bank Institute,
  Singapore,
  17 February, 2011

• Recent and Upcoming Fiscal Reforms in Sri Lanka
  “Collaborative Research in Fiscal Policy in Asia”
  Organized by the Governance Institutes Network International (GINI)
  Singapore
  8-9 August, 2010

• Economic Reforms in Sri Lanka: Progress, Constraints and Prospects
  “Advancing Economic Integration in South and East Asia”
  organized by the South Asia Bureau of Economic Research (SABER) of the Australian
  National University
  Canberra, Australia
  11-12 February, 2010.

• Regional Economic Integration: Deepening of SAFTA
  “2nd South Asia Economic Summit” organized by the Research and Information System
  (RIS)
  New Delhi, India,
  11-12 December, 2009.

• Economic Reforms in Sri Lanka: Progress and Constraints
  “Efficiency of Economic Policy Formation, Development and Implementation in Key South Asian Economies”
  organized by the East Asia Bureau of Economic Research (EABER) of the Australian National University in collaboration with the Indian Council for Research on Economiic Relations (ICRIER)
  New Delhi, India
  29-30 June, 2009.

• Bilateralism in South Asia: Recasting the Regionalism Debate
  “Fifth Annual Conference on Growth, Trade and Development”
  organized by the Lahore School of Economics
  Lahore, Pakistan
  20-21 April, 2009.

• Sri Lanka Country Investment Report
  “Intra-regional Trade and Investment in South Asia”
  organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila
  Kathmandu, Nepal
  4-5 December, 2008

• Financial Sector Reforms in South Asia
  “Financial Sector Reforms in South Asia and Economic Integration in Asia”
  organized by the East Asia Bureau of Economic Research (EABER), Australia, and the Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research (IGIDR), India
  Mumbai, India
  17 November, 2008

• Economic and Political Challenges in Sri Lanka
  “South Asia: Environment and Human Security” organized by AusAID
  Canberra, Australia
  2-3 October, 2008

• Ways Forward for South Asian and East Asian Intra-regional Integration
  “Micro-Economic Foundations of Economic Policy Performance in Asia”
  organized by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), India and East Asia Bureau of Economic Research (EABER), Australia
  New Delhi, India
  3-4 April, 2008

• India’s Role in SAARC Integration and Way Ahead
  “India’s Role in South Asian Economic Integration”
  organized by the Indian Council of Research in International Economic Relations (ICRIER) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
  New Delhi, India
  10 March, 2008

• Key Trade and Development Issues and the New Realities in the Geography of the World Economy
  “Pre-UNCTAD XII Civil Society Forum”
  organized by CUTS Hanoi Resource Centre
  Hanoi, Vietnam
  6-7 March, 2008

• Impact of Bilateral and Regional Trade Agreements on SAFTA
  “Roundtable on SAFTA: An Enabler of South Asian Regional Integration”
  organized by the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI)
  Bhurban, Pakistan
  17-18 April, 2007

• Linking Aid for Trade
  “Linkages between Trade, Development and Poverty: Aid for Trade”
  organized by the Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS)
  Nairobi, Kenya
  15-16 March, 2007

• Post Tsunami Economic Recovery: Sri Lanka Two Years On
  “Two Years After the Tsunami: Redevelopment in Comparative Contexts”
  organized by the Indonesian Economic Association
  Jakarta, Indonesia
  18 December, 2006

• Sri Lanka: Trade and Investment Relations with East and South Asia
  “Economic Cooperation between East Asia and South Asia”
  organized by the Asian Development Bank
  Singapore
  27-28 November, 2006

• Trade and Poverty Linkages in Sri Lanka
  “Trade, Development and Poverty Linkages”
  organized by Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS)
  Bangkok, Thailand
  24-25 November, 2006

• South Asian Free Trade Agreement
  8th Annual Conference of the Economic Freedom Network Asia on
  “Preferential Trade Agreements: Local Solutions for Global Free Trade?”
  Malaysian Institute of Economic Research
  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  12-13 September 2006

• Trade and Development
  “Regional Trade Policy Course (RTPC)”
  organized by the World Trade Organization, University of Hong Kong
  26-27 April, 2006

• SAFTA: Sensitive Lists, Rules of Origin and NTBs
  “SAFTA: Business Opportunities and Challenges”,
  SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry
  New Delhi, India
  13 March, 2006

• Trade, Development and Poverty Initiatives: Ways to Maximize Policy Coherence
  “Linkages between Trade, Development and Poverty Reduction”
  organized by the Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS), India
  Geneva, Switzerland
  24-25 November, 2005

• Post-Tsunami Recovery: Issues and Challenges in Sri Lanka
  Asian Development Bank Institute
  Tokyo, Japan
  8 September, 2005

• Market Access: Agreement on Textile and Clothing
  “Regional Trade Policy Course (RTPC)”
  organized by the World Trade Organization
  University of Hong Kong
  6 May, 2005