SRI LANKAN ECONOMIC THINK TANK APPOINTS QUEEN'S GRADUATE AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 

26 October 2017

Senior Sri Lankan economist and Queen’s BSc Econ (1989) graduate, Dr Dushni Weerakoon, has been appointed as the Executive Director of the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS).

Dr Weerakoon has over 23 years of experience at the IPS, and has been functioning as its Deputy Director since 2005. Her research and publications cover areas related to macroeconomic policy, regional trade integration, and international economics.

In addition to her First Class BSc from Queen’s Dr Weerakoon is a past recipient of the McKane Medal and Scholarship which is awarded to the best final honours student in Economics by the University.

Established in 1988 and then formalised in 1990, the IPS is an autonomous institution which works with a number of private and public sector institutions, advising them on economic policy issues.

Highly involved in the arena of public policy through her research and direct engagements in policy formulation, Dr Weerakoon has served as a member of the Macro and Trade Policy Steering Committee of the Ministry of Policy Development and Implementation (2002-04).

She has been an official delegate to the Committee of Experts to negotiate the South Asian Free Trade Agreement under the Ministry of Trade and Commerce (2004-05) and a member of the Trade and Tariff Committee of the National Council for Economic Development (NCED) of the Ministry of Finance (2004-10).

Dr Weerakoon has worked as a consultant to international organizations such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the International Labour Organization (ILO). She has been a resource person on the Asia-Pacific Regional Trade Policy Course conducted jointly by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and University of Hong Kong (2003-06).

Dr Weerakoon also serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of South Asian Development, and is the Editor of IPS’ annual flagship report Sri Lanka: State of the Economy. She also served as an Independent Non-Executive Director on the Board of the Nations Trust Bank (2007-16), and Centre for Poverty Analysis (2008-14).

She also holds an MA and PhD in Economics from the University of Manchester, is a recipient of the Arts Faculty Scholarship from the University of Colombo and a Postgraduate Scholarship from the University of Manchester, an Overseas Research Scholarship (ORS) from the UK Government, and the Drummond Frazer Research Studentship from the University of Manchester.

General inquiries to Gerry Power, Communications Officer, Development and Alumni Relations Office; tel: +44 (0)28 9097 5321.

 

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