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n 1978 he served as the First Legal Advisor of the Greater Colombo Economic Commission, (present BOI) while serving the Attorney General’s Department as a State Counsel. During his time the first 70 agreements were executed when Upali Wijewardena was the Founder Chairman of the BOI, then known as the Greater Colombo Economic Commission.
This is the second appointment in the public sector for Jayasuriya. He served as Chairman of the Sri Lanka State Trading Tractor Corporation in 1982. In 1983 he was awarded the Top Young Outstanding Professional Award by Jacees Sri Lanka under the Entrepreneurship category for converting the corporation into a profit-making venture.
The BOI comes under the Ministry of Investment and Highways, a portfolio held by Kabir Hashim, whose deputy is Eran Wickramaratne.
Jayasuriya is also the President of Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), a post he won in February 2013 and he served as Secretary as well from 1991-1993. An Old Boy of Royal College Colombo, Jayasuriya entered Law College in 1973 at the age of 17. He joined the Bar in 1976 at 21, as the youngest attorney at the time. He was also elected to the presidency of the Colombo Law Society in 2008.
He joined the Attorney General’s Department as a State Counsel on 2 January 1978. On the same day there were several others who joined the department, among them were Justice Shirani Thilakawardena (Rtd.), Justice Nimal Gamini Amaratunga (Rtd.), Justice Priyasath Dep and Justice Sathya Hettige (Rtd.), all present judges of the Supreme Court and Anil Silva (P.C.).
He was appointed Managing Director/CEO of Ceylon Chocolates Ltd. in 1997 and converted the same into a substantial profit centre. He held several company directorates and was also a member of the Board of Directors of Upali Investments Holdings Ltd.
