Top recognition for man of many hats

Dr. Dinesh Watawana has been awarded Sri Lanka’s most innovative entrepreneur by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry at the 24th Sri Lankan Entrepreneur of the Year Awards held at the BMICH.

Considered one of Sri Lanka’s most diversely endowed professionals, Dr. Watawana’s uncanny ability to inspire innovation across the business field, bridging wealth creation with sustainable development has been recognised. His recognition at the Sri Lanka entrepreneur awards offers a vote of confidence to businesses in a battered economy with him calling out to businesses to re-imagine their future on societal needs.

Having inspired a plethora of Sri Lankan brands to stardom, his brand development and communications agency The 7th Frontier first went off the beaten track during the height of the war with a brief to put Sri Lanka on the world map of tourism. KumbukRiver not only became an instant international hit winning the Travel Oscar as the world’s leading eco-lodge, as well as, being named among the world’s top 10 most unusual hotels but pioneered what would turn out to be one of the world’s first attempts to adopt the universal concept of building brands on creating shared value.

While working on external brands including several iconic blue-chips, Dr. Dinesh Watawana built an in-house model of business bringing together expertise in brand building, modern media, sustainable development, conservation and education giving new meaning to diversity and resilience. Dr. Watawana’s emergence as a developmental catalyst saw him re-modelling the concept of value creation through the advent of Geo Explore Foundation. Through www.geo360life.com, the flag-bearer for his new marcom agency, Dr. Watawana offered to help brands recalibrate on the cutting-edge of creating shared value at a debilitating time for the economy.

The panel of judges which included some of Sri Lanka’s most respected professionals recognised Dr. Watawana’s far-reaching business philosophy with four awards which also included, in addition to joint winner as Sri Lanka’s most innovative entrepreneur of the year 2019, gold as a national winner in the category of Sri Lankan Entrepreneur of the year, an insightful decision of the judges, considering his decision not to grow in size but allowing the freedom to experiment with his business ideology which allows him to contribute as a catalyst of transformation on the national scene.

From battlefields to boardrooms, Dr. Dinesh Watawana wields one of the most uncommon combinations of expertise and exploits. An award-winning former war correspondent and international journalist, Dr. Watawana has been a ministerial, developmental and military Adviser while also strategising several leading local and international brands. 

Dr. Watawana holds a Grad Cert in International Business, an MBA in Business Psychology, a PhD in Criminal Psychology and Psychological Engineering and a Black Belt in Martial Arts.