About Us

M Zulficar Ghouse, A Fellow Member of the Chartered Accountant — Sri Lanka and trained at KPMG and also a Fellow Member of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka. Since 2009, functioning as the Executive Director of Expack Corrugated Carton Limited, a leading Corrugated Carton Manufacturer. The Company has a turnover exceeding Rs 3.5 Billion Rupees and with a staff strength of 300 employees. Expack is a fully owned subsidiary of the Aberdeen Group. Expack had the distinction of being awarded theWRAP Gold Certificate in 2013 and the 1st Corrugation Manufacturer to obtain 9001-2008 ISO Certification in 2012. Expack has also has won several prestigious awards such as the Top 10 award at the CNCI Achievers Award in 2012 and the Most Outstanding Exporter Award — Support Services Sector in 2010 & 2011, the NCE Gold Award in the Extra-Large category several times and the Business Excellence Award and also the Presidential Merit Award in 2008. In 2014 and 2015 they have won Gold awards at the Lanka Star Awards for innovative packaging solutions. They expanded their operation in 2007 by acquiring a 4 acre land in the industrial zone, with the inclusion of state of the art fully automated machinery, which resulted in larger market share amongst the large exporters.

The current portfolio of customers includes the following segment, FMCG, Pharmaceutical, Food Manufacturers & Exporters of Tea Exporters, Garments & Accessories, Fruits and Vegetables, Bicycle Manufacturers, Sea food to name a few.

Previously was employed as Director/CEO of Asiabike Industrial Limited, a BOI approved company is the pioneer in the manufacture of bicycles in Sri Lanka. Presently it is the only company in Sri Lanka manufacturing and exporting more than 350,000 bikes per year to European Union Countries. The company is 100 percent Sri Lankan owned and was incorporated in 1994.. Asia bike were awarded the Presidential Award for Export Excellence in 2006, Gold Award in 2007 and the Bronze Award in 2006 in the Industrial Extra-Large Category by the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka.

Zulficar has extensive experience in private sector organizations local and overseas. His previous appointments were as Director /CEO of Colombo Land & Development Co Limited, a company listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange and prior to that he was Managing Director of iOM Lanka (Pvt) Limited and as Country Manager of iOM Philippines In which was subsidiary of Royal Clicks Limited, a company listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. He was also employed as Group Financial Controller of the Expolanka Group.

Was Independent Director at Vidullanka from 2007 to January 2019. Vidul Lanka Plc a company listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange, Muvumbe Hydro ( Uganda ) Limited, Norfolk Foods Pvt Ltd, Vidul Engineering Pvt Ltd, Gurugoda Hydro Pvt Limited, Muvumbe Hydro (Uganda) Limited & Lower Kotmale Oya Hydro Pvt Ltd.

Mr. Hassan Kassim was appointed to the Board on 07th March 2016. He is the Director/ Chief Operating Officer at Aberdeen Holdings (Private) Limited and the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Expo Commodities DMCC Dubai. He has also served as Head of International Trading at Lanka Commodity Holdings (Pvt) Ltd. and Head of Corporate Communications and CSR at Expolanka Holdings PLC. .

He holds a BA (Hons.) Degree in Management Studies from the University of Nottingham, UK. Mr Hassan Kassim also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Bio Extracts (Pvt) Ltd, Lanka Commodity Holdings (Pvt) Ltd., Expoceylon Pharmaceuticals (Pvt) Ltd, Expo Commodities Global (Pvt) Ltd, Kolonnawa Property Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, Ruhunu Farms (Pvt) Ltd and Roar Digital (Pvt) Ltd.

An Industry stalwart with over 29 years’ experience.Seasoned CEO with an industry leading company in Pakistan, expert at leading cross-functional teams, managing result-oriented departments, ensuring corporate governance. He holds multiple Board Member position(s) with reputed companies and leverages management and visionary leadership expertise for driving long-term strategies aimed at excelling companies’ top-line and bottom-line. He is serving as an independent non-executive director of Amana Takaful PLC. Alongside his several accolades, he is an MBA & a Certified Director.

Ms.Deepthie currently serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director and the chairperson of the Audit Committee of Vidullanka PLC. She is also an independent consultant mainly in the fields of business process management, treasury management and business counselling, at Board / senior management levels. Counts over 35 years of corporate experience that ranges across many industries and countries including the United Kingdom, Singapore, India, Indonesia & the Fiji Islands. She is renowned for successfully leading special projects (locally & internationally) relating to organizational strategy, operations, finance, risk & governance. She has also been very successful in mitigating the generation gaps that are currently faced by the management of many reputed companies. She has been a board member/advisor to the boards of many companies including Expolanka Freight (Pvt) Ltd, AHL Business Solutions (Pvt) Ltd, (the Information Technology and Business Process Management arm of Good hope Asia Holdings Ltd, a part of Carson Cumberbatch PLC), Aviva Global Services a member of the Aviva group (formerly known as Norwich Union, UK), GFH Management Company (Galle Face Hotel), Lanka Equities (Pvt) Ltd., Flour Mills of Fiji PLC, AMW Management Company (management company of Associated Motorways Limited – AMW) and Family Health Services Authority – Oxfordshire, UK. The Chitrasena Vajira Dance Foundation, the oldest and most prestigious school of traditional dance in Sri Lanka is an organization close to her heart of which she is a member of the Board. She also held the post of vice president of the Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps Seva Vanitha Unit from 2012 -2015. Deepthie is a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), UK, and holds an MBA from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.

Thilan has an exeptional track record in entrepreneurship, corporate leadership and, for a brief period, public service. In a career spanning 30 years, he has specialized in strategy consulting, investment banking, Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) structuring and property and leisure development, having generated significant growth and shareholder wealth in businesses managed and co-owned. Having completed his schooling at Ananda College, Colombo, Thilan pursued university studies in the USA, obtaining three Summa-cum-Laude Bachelors’ degrees in Business Administration (State University of New York), Industrial Engineering and Economics (both from Cornell University). Upon returning to Sri Lanka, Thilan functioned as Senior Management Consultant (specializing in strategy and market research consulting) at Price Waterhouse Coopers, Colombo (1985-89) followed by Head of Corporate Planning at Sampath Bank (1989-91). In 1992 he pursued entrepreneurial interests by co-founding Asia Capital PLC, which became Sri Lanka’s largest investment bank. In 3 ½ years Asia Capital grew from its initial investment of US$ 25,000 into a company ranked among the top 10 companies listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. The company was Sri Lanka’s top stock broker in terms of market share in 1993 and 1994 and responsible for several landmark corporate finance and acquisition transactions. Thilan was a key initiator in successfully launching the Hong Kong based Regent Sri Lanka Fund in 1993, the first ever country fund dedicated to Sri Lankan equities and served on the Board of this Dublin-listed company for 3 years. Thilan sold his entire equity holding in Asia Capital PLC in 1996. Thilan’s success as an investment banker attracted the attention of the political leadership and, in September 1995, he was invited by the then President of Sri Lanka to the position of Chairman and Director General of the Board of Investment (BOI), a statutory body directly under the President. He became the youngest ever, longest serving (5 ½ years) and the first private sector full-time head of this investment promotion agency. Whilst at the BOI, he established many “firsts” including pioneering Public-Private-Partnership and investment transactions in ports, power and telecom sectors, housing development, software and IT, including co-founding the not-for-profit Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, now Sri Lanka’s largest IT and engineering University by far. He serves this institute as a Board member for life. During his term, the BOI attracted the highest ever quantum of foreign direct (equity) investment at the time (1999), with PPP investments accounting for around 45% of FDI. Professor Ricardo Hausmann in a 2017 analysis of FDI inflows to Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2015 has confirmed that in the 1998-99 period Sri Lanka produced the highest level of net FDI as a percentage of GDP (2.6%). During his tenure as Chairman BOI, for a brief period, Thilan concurrently served as Chairman, Textile Quota Board and was responsible for successfully negotiating a new quota regime with the EU, resulting in the boosting of apparel exports to the EU by 300% in 3 years. He was also a member of the team that successfully negotiated the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement, which resulted in a 10-fold increase of exports to India in 5 years up to 2005. Under Thilan’s leadership, the BOI was responsible for constructing 8 new Export Processing Zones. (No new EPZs have been constructed in Sri Lanka since). Thilan has also served as a Board member of Public Enterprises Reform Commission, Urban Development Authority, National Housing Development Authority, Colombo Stock Exchange and Export Development Board In 2002 Thilan decided on a change of career focus from investment banking to property and leisure development to pursue his passion for design and architecture. For 2 years he functioned as co-CEO of Sri Lanka’s largest listed property and hotel company, Asian Hotels Properties PLC (AHP), owning 2 company of the present Cinnamon Grand and Cinnamon Lakeside. He directed the master planning of AHP’s property in Colombo 3 and the landmark merger between AHP and its subsidiary Crescat Development Ltd. This was followed by the successful sale of majority control of this Group to John Keells Holdings, Sri Lanka’s largest conglomerate. During his tenure AHC achieved a 400% rise in share price and 300% rise in profitability. Having opted to pursue entrepreneurial interests after the sale of AHP, in 2004, Thilan chose to partner with the makers of Dilmah Tea to set up a chain of exclusive resort hotels in Sri Lanka. He then cofounded Sri Lanka’s first hotel management company specializing in managing small luxury resorts (Resplendent Ceylon) and Ceylon Tea Trails, now widely regarded as Sri Lanka’s leading small luxury hotel, having won TripAdvisor awards for “Best All-inclusive Hotel (World)” category for four consecutive years from 2009-12. In 2004, Thilan was concurrently appointed Group CEO/Managing Director of Forbes & Walker (F&W), a subsidiary of Dilmah, and Sri Lanka’s largest commodity broker. During his 5-year tenure, F&W’s turnover tripled, profits increased at annual growth rate of 40% and shareholder wealth increased 4-fold. Thilan exited his shareholding and CEO position at F&W in 2009, though he continues to serve as non-executive Director of Dilmah’s leisure businesses. In January 2010, Thilan was invited to the position of Group Managing Director of Overseas Realty (Ceylon) PLC (ORC) by its Chairman, Mr. S.P.Tao, a pioneering property developer in Singapore and former Chairman of Singapore Land. ORC owns the World Trade Centre, and Colombo’s largest contiguous block of residential and commercial land, the 18-acre Havelock City, which is currently being developed into an integrated mixed development. Thilan relinquished his position at ORC in 2011 to pursue entrepreneurial interests. To leverage on his strengths in real estate and investment banking, in 2011 Thilan founded TWCorp (Pvt) Ltd (TWC), a boutique investment bank and advisory specializing in real estate and PPPs, functioning as its Chairman and owner. TWCorp has successfully carried out transactions and assignments in tourism, industrial estates, property development and hydro power generation in Sri Lanka, Nepal, India and Malta. Today, TWC has expanded its team to 10 highly qualified investment bankers and engaged in M&A, private equity funds under management, PPP advisory and investment structuring. As an angel investor, Thilan has incubated and co-invested in several pioneering start-up ventures: namely, Sapphirus Lanka, Sri Lanka’s highest value added exporter of sapphire to premium jewellers and watch-makers such as Tiffany, Cartier, Chanel, Harry Winston, Van Cleef Arpels and Patek Philippe; Wow.lk, Sri Lanka’s largest e-commerce company, which was purchased Dialog Axiata PLC in 2016, and subsequently merged with Daraz.lk (owned by Alibaba); eTreatMD, a Vancouver based digital health company and only one to receive FDA and Canada Health approval for an arthritis and skin-care App; Motion Miracles, the only mobile gaming studio on Sri Lanka to be signed up by the World’s largest mobile gaming publishers. Thilan has a passion for cricket and music. At cricket, he has captained his high school (Ananda College First XI team), club (Tamil Union Cricket Club Sara Trophy)) and country (Sri Lanka “A” team in 1991 - ’92). He has won the All Island Best Batsman’s Award, both as a schoolboy and Division 1 club cricketer. Thilan has also played piano professionally while a student at Cornell University. He has won the Golden Clef award for Folk Musician of the Year in Sri Lanka in 1991. In 2001, he produced a widely acclaimed musical album, Rites of Passage by Alien Accent (a band Thilan co-founded), comprising several of his own compositions.

Mr. Padmesh Weerasekera is a business strategist with over 28 years of experience specializing in the areas of corporate strategy, sales, marketing and sustainability. He has worked in a number of industries covering insurance, advertising, telecommunications, FMCG, automotive, banking, logistics, travel, hospitality, real estate operating locally and internationally. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK, Certified Management Accountant - CMA Australia and holds a MBA from the University of Wales,UK. He was the Chief executive officer at George Steuart Consumer and served in senior leadership capacities in the past at Expolanka Holdings PLC, Janashakthi Insurance and Bates Asia. He is a recipient of the Brand Leadership Award at the World Brand Congress in 2011, CMO Asia Award in 2012 and Asia’s Best Marketer Award in 2016, CMO Asia, Singapore.

Abdullah Kassim is a young business leader with an aptitude to take up challenging assignments. Kassim was instrumental in the turn-around of Neptune Papers, a Recycling operation in Sri Lanka, which was in distress at the point of his take-over. Previously he played the role as Head of Business Development of Expo Lanka Holdings PLC and was part of the core team that saw the company move from being a privately held business to a publicly listed company. Mr. Abdullah Kassim also is an Independent Non-Executive Director to the Board of Amana Takaful Maldives PLC since 05th May 2017.

Mr. Abdullah Kassim holds a First Class (Hons) Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Staffordshire University- UK and Masters (MSc) in International Business & Management from Manchester Business School, University of Manchester - UK.