BOI gets two new Board Members

Dr. Nihal Samarappuli, Dr. Harsha Subasinghe appointed by President Sirisena

By Charumini de Silva

The Board of Investment (BoI) has got two new board members while an equal number of positions still remain vacant, the Daily FT learns. According to sources, President Maithripala Sirisena has appointed BoI’s former Executive Director Research and Policy Advocacy Dr. Nihal Samarappuli and Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of CodeGen Group of Companies Dr. Harsha Subasinghe as two board members.

The BOI Act allows the appointment of a total of five board members including the Chairman. However, the country’s investment promotion body is yet to get two other board members appointed by a Minister in the near future as the institution is operating without the purview of a subject minister at present due to the political crisis.

It is also unclear as to how Hemasiri Fernando would continue as the newly-appointed Chairman of the BoI since he was appointed the Secretary to the Defence Ministry last week.

President Sirisena on 17 October dissolved the Board of Directors of the BOI along with state-run Bank of Ceylon and the People’s Bank.