Prabhash Subasinghe appointed EDB Chairman

By Charumini de Silva

Renowned entrepreneur Prabhash Subasinghe has been appointed Chairman of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB).

Subasinghe confirmed his appointment to the Daily FT and said he was humbled to have been selected to steer the country’s export development initiative and accepted it in the national interest. 

He is scheduled to assume office today morning.  Subasinghe is an ambitious and astute entrepreneur engaged in exports.

With a degree in Applied Economics and Business from the prestigious Ivy League institute Cornell University, and subsequent further higher studies at Harvard University, he sought after leadership and capitalism with the same determination and drive he positioned into the foundation of his education. He partook in several programs at the Harvard Business School, INSEAD, The Center for Creative Leadership [CCL] at Colorado Springs, and at Singularity University in Silicon Valley. 

He has diverse business interests in specialty tyres, seafood, insurance, and banking, and has become a true Asian success story at a very young age.

Currently leading a Group of Companies that has achieved swift success on a global scale, Prabhash is a proven leader with a steadfast passion to build great businesses. A drive to relentlessly deliver excellence in all his businesses has led to his remarkable success. He is currently the Managing Director of GRI (Global Rubber Industries Ltd.) a manufacturer of high-performance specialty tyres, which sells its products in over 50 countries. 

GRI tyres are used in the agriculture, material handling, construction, and port tyre sectors. He embarked on an ambitious new venture in Sri Lanka’s rubber industry when he launched an Advanced Specialty Tyre factory on the 25th of January 2018. This factory is producing Radial Agriculture tyres for the first time in Sri Lanka, thereby enhancing the country’s export portfolio. 

He is also the Managing Director of GSF (Global Sea Foods Ltd.) a processor and supplier of high-quality seafood that is served in famous sushi restaurants in Tokyo to top-tier seafood restaurants in cities such as New York, Paris and London. The group has ten offices globally along with 16 nationalities and 1200 personnel in employment. 

His latest entrepreneurial endeavour is Ayenka Holdings, an investment company that has a large and diverse portfolio of investments in the Colombo Stock Exchange. The first investment of Ayenka Holdings is in a luxury real estate project in the Maldives. Prabhash is the principal shareholder of the largest listed Insurance Company in Sri Lanka - Ceylinco Insurance. He is also invested in the largest microfinance bank in Sri Lanka, the Sanasa Development Bank, where he holds the position of Director. Prabhash’s latest investment was in Sampath Bank, which has been recognized as a growing force in Sri Lankan financial services.

Prabhash holds key leadership positions in many organizations and contributes significantly to the growth of the industries that is he involved. He and envisions being a catalyst for the next generation of growth, whilst working towards achieving new heights in the rubber and seafood industry in Sri Lanka and building a truly Sri Lankan, diversified business group. He is the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Association of Manufacturers and Exporters of Rubber Products, immediate past president of Seafood Exporters Association of Sri Lanka, past director of the Export Development Board of Sri Lanka, Co-Chair of the National Agenda Committee on Export Development, Member of YPO (Young Presidents Organization) and Member of SRI (Sri Lanka Society of Rubber Industry).