Finance Ministry appoints Thulci Aluwihare and Sharmini Ratwatte to BOC Board

Bank of Ceylon (BOC) has appointed Thulci Aluwihare and Sharmini Ratwatte as Independent Non-Executive Directors to its Board on the recommendations of a five-member special selection committee appointed by the Finance Ministry.

Thulci Aluwihare is Deputy Managing Director at CHEC Port City Colombo Ltd., with more than 25 years of experience in corporate wealth, investment, transaction advisory, divesture, capital raising, and restructuring in London, Melbourne, and Colombo.

He was a member of the Colombo International Financial Centre Steering Committee Task Force to set up the first foreign currency designated multi-services Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Sri Lanka. With the enactment of the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act, Aluwihare’s primary role now is to promote Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and create a destination appeal for international businesses to set up in Port City, a $ 15 billion new township development, an extension of the existing Colombo Central Business District (CBD).

Prior to joining CHEC Port City Colombo, he was the Director and Head of Mergers and Acquisitions at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Sri Lanka and Maldives. He spent 14 years with PwC, including at PwC Melbourne, Australia, where he was involved in large cross-border multinational corporation (MNC) transactions. He was also selected to the Global PwC Panel of Trainers for Mergers and Acquisitions and successfully conducted training for managers in the Advisory University Program held in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Dublin, Rome, Warsaw, and Abu Dhabi.

An Economics graduate from the University of West London, UK, with an MSc in Financial Economics from the University of Colombo, Aluwihare currently serves as a Non-Executive Independent Director at Abans Finance PLC and Expack Corrugated Cartons PLC.

Sharmini Ratwatte is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK and holds an MBA from the University of Colombo. She was recognised as the Zonta Woman of Achievement – Management in 2004.

She formerly worked at MAS Holdings, Sri Lanka, for over 16 years in senior finance, management, and C-suite roles. 

She was a Non-Executive Director at John Keells PLC, the tea and stock broking arm of the John Keells Group in Sri Lanka (2007-2016). From 2016-2025, she served as a Non-Executive Director at Ceylon Cold Stores PLC, a subsidiary of John Keells Holdings operating in the consumer foods and retail industry, and BPPL Holdings PLC, one of Asia’s largest brush manufacturers, a large plastics up-cycler, and the only polyester yarn producer in Sri Lanka.

Ratwatte was a former Chairperson of the Environmental Foundation Ltd., a non-profit promoting sustainable development and justice for the environment. She is a Founder Trustee and a Director of the Federation of Environmental Organisations, a non-profit engaging and building collaboration within the environmental space in Sri Lanka.

She is a Non-Executive Director of the National Credit Guarantee Institution Ltd., a public-private collaboration between the Government, 13 banks, and Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs) to support and grow the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector in Sri Lanka.

She is also a Non-Executive Director of Convenience Foods (Lanka) PLC, a manufacturer and marketer of protein-based foods of the CBL Group, a Non-Executive Director at Greenpeace Asia Ltd., and also a Trustee of the Sunera Foundation, a non-profit working in theatre and arts with the differently-abled.