Harry J, Dharmadasa enter Entrepreneur Hall of Fame

By Cheranka Mendis

Two of Sri Lanka’s leading businessmen on Tuesday received awards of recognition under ‘Sri Lankan Entrepreneur of the Year – Entrepreneur Hall of Fame’ at its 15th annual ‘Sri Lankan Entrepreneurs of the Year’ award ceremony.

Chief Executive Officer of Stassen Group of Companies D.H.S. Jayawardena, widely known as Harry J in business circles, and Chairman of Nawaloka Group of Companies Deshamanya H.K. Dharmadasa were awarded at the event.

Deshamanya Don Harold Stassen Jayawardena is one of the most prominent and controversial Sri Lankan businessmen in the country. Starting his carrier in the tea industry, Jayawardena is today the Chairman of 17 companies.

Jayawardena, who ventured into Stassen Exports in 1977, a leading tea exporter in the country, has been honoured with various titles such as ‘Vishvaprasadini’ by the late Sirimavo Bandaranaike, ‘Deshamanya’ by former President Chandrika Bandaranaike and ‘Man of the Year’ by the American Biographical Institute and Board of International Research USA.

His company, Stassen Group of Companies, is a widely diversified group with interests in import and export trade, the Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka, Lanka Milk Foods (CWE), Madulsima Plantations and Balangoda Plantations. He is also a Director of Hatton National Bank, Aitken Spence Group and Lanka Bell.



Chairman of Nawaloka Group of Companies Deshamanya H.K. Dharmadasa, a legendary businessman in the country’s history of commercial and economic trade, was also honoured at the event.

Making his entry to the local business market in 1942 while World War II was still raging in Europe and the country under British occupation, Dharmadasa is one of the very few who have witnessed and survived the transformation of business, religion, cultural and political spheres of the country.

He made his entry with Nawaloka Timber Stores, which soon went on to become make a household name in the country and grew into a group of companies covering many fields, including construction, industries, trading and healthcare.

Today, the group has over 4,000 employees and a very large fleet of modern construction machinery and equipment. The group is widely identified in the general community under the famous and highly-successful Nawaloka Hospitals.