Ecowave’s Chairman Mr. Suresh de Mel appointed as the Chairman of the Export Development Board (EDB).

14-Dec-2020

Our Chairman Mr. Suresh de Mel is appointed as the Chairman of the Export Development Board (EDB) - the apex state organization responsible for the development and promotion of exports. Mr. Suresh de Mel is an agricultural and environmental engineer by profession, who acquired his education and experience in the USA. As the Managing Director of Fishing Flies (Pvt) Ltd. – which engaged in the export of fishing flies, especially to the USA market. He returned home in 1990 and invested in Tangalle – a post-conflict area at the time, to employ unemployed young women and earn foreign exchange for the country by manufacturing designer fishing flies (artificial sport fishing bait) for export to the US. Today the company employs 200 women in Tangalle, Ratnapura and Nugegoda, producing the world’s best quality fishing flies for export.

He has been actively engaged in the Hambantota Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which is well-known for supporting both the exports and tourism sectors, especially through the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector. He has also promoted entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka through the Global Entrepreneurship Network.

He also serves as the Co-Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Trade Promotion and Trade Information related to the implementation of the National Export Strategy (NES) under the purview of the EDB. In this capacity, he empowered the public and private sectors to collaborate in the identification of priorities in order to improve export performance of the export sector. Currently, de Mel serves as a Council Member cum Board Member of the Employers Federation of Ceylon (EFC), representing SMEs and regional chambers of commerce.

He actively serves on several boards and committees – Government and Non-Government, for the development of regional SMEs, entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship,   vocational training, labour relations, responsible tourism, sustainable agriculture, and exports.

He will play great role for the development of export sector of the country, we wish him for his new tenure to bring a great impact.