Harsha de Silva

Honourable Dr
Harsha de Silva
MP, PhD
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Assumed office
9 September 2015
Deputy Minister of Economic Development
In office
12 January 2015 – 17 August 2015
Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament
for Colombo District
Assumed office
2015
Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament
for National List
In office
2010–2015
Personal details
Nationality Sri Lankan
Political party United National Party
Occupation Politician
Profession Economist

Dr Harsha de Silva (Sinhala : ආචාර්ය. හර්ෂ ද සිල්වා ), MP is a Sri Lankan economist and politician. A current member of Parliament of Sri Lanka, he is the current Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs[1] and the former deputy minister of Policy Planning and Economic Development in the 100-day government. He has gained lime light as a media personality hosting several talk shows relating to development and international matters. In the recent years he voiced his opposition to the economic policies of the previous government.[2]

Educated at Royal College Colombo, he gained his BS in Business Management from Truman State University in 1988 and went on to complete his MA and PhD in Economics at the University of Missouri in 1993. He has also participated for an executive program on evaluating social programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2006 as an Eisenhower Fellow.[3]

As an economist he worked for the DFCC Bank, going on to become its chief economist and treasurer. Thereafter he was the co-founder and Joint Managing Director of The Nielsen Company.

In Government

He was placed in charge of "Economic Diplomacy" of the government and was a supporter of economic liberalization and trade agreements. He is a supporter of major trade agreements and is a supporter of Sri lanka joining the Trans Pacific Partnership.[4][5][6]

He was the visionary and the main backer of the Indian-aided project to create a modern EMT and Ambulence service in Sri Lanka. When India offered a gift to Sri lanka inorder to mark Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's visit De Silva proposed a emergency medical service after personal experinces with short comings in the Sri Lankan system as well as the urging of doctors. It was also backed by Wickremesighe resulting in India's world reputed GVK Emergency Response Institute offering training to hundreds of Sri Lankan EMTs and Paramedics as well as donating Ambuelnces and granting a 7.5 million dollar grant to start the service in Colombo and Galle as a first step.[7]

References

  1. ↑ New State and Deputy Ministers sworn in
  2. ↑ In conversation with Dr. Harsha de Silva, MP
  3. ↑ Harsha de Silva, PhD
  4. ↑ "Govt pushing for GSP+, TPP membership - Dr. Harsha | Daily News". www.dailynews.lk. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  5. ↑ ""Govt. to discuss with the US in joining TTP" ::: Dailymirror.lk ::: Breaking News". www.dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  6. ↑ "Dr. Harsha De Silva on new foreign policy initiatives or 'economic diplomacy'". www.ft.lk. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  7. ↑ "economynext.com". economynext.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.


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