COLOMBO : Top professional R.G.S Wijesekara was recently appointed as the Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organisation. He presented his credentials to WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Wijesekara obtained his B.Sc Degree from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura, Sri Lanka and completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Economic Development at the University of Colombo. He holds an MA (Economics) from the University of Madras, India. Wijesekara obtained a Diploma in Advanced Trade Policy conducted by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland. He has also obtained executive training on ‘Mastering Trade Policy’ at Harvard Kennedy School in the USA/Boston. Wijesekara is currently reading for his Phd in Economics at the University of Colombo.
Wijesekara joined the Department of Commerce as an Assistant Director of Commerce in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in 2002. Since then he served as a WTO (World Trade Organisation) Mission Intern at the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Geneva, Diplomatic assignments as the Assistant Trade Commissioner at the Sri Lanka High Commission, London, Minister Counsellor, Sri Lanka Deputy High Commission in Chennai and Minister Commercial at the Sri Lanka Embassy in Japan being responsible for Sri Lanka’s Trade, Commerce and Investment Promotion work and representing commercial and economic interests abroad.
During his tenure at the Department of Commerce, as a capital-based officer; he worked under the Directorate of Multilateral Trade Relations, Bilateral Trade and Economic Relation Division as well as the Research and Training Division.
As a career commercial officer, Wijesekara represented Sri Lanka’s delegations at various trade negotiations and provided extensive negotiation, technical and analytical support / inputs at various multilateral and bilateral fora.FT
