Sarada appointed to HVA Foods board

HVA Foods PLC, a leading tea exporter in the country, has appointed Sarada De Silva as an Independent Non-Executive Director with effect from October 1, 2016. De Silva counts over 40 years of experience in the spice industry, specially in the cinnamon industry, and is Founder Chairman of the Spice Council of Sri Lanka. 

He has held many positions in the spice industry, including the chairmanship of the Export Development Board advisory committee on spices and allied products, trade facilitation and the Commerce and Industry Ministry advisory committee on spices and allied products. 

He was a member of the National Council for Economic Development (NCED) Export Cluster and member of the steering committee to form the National Competitiveness Council of the Finance Ministry. De Silva is also President of the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka.

He is Chairman and Managing Director of B. Darsin De Silva & Sons (Pvt.) Ltd, Chairman of Cinnamon Trading Academy Limited and Chairman of Ceylinco General Insurance Limited. He was Chairman and Managing Director of Intercom Group of Companies until his retirement in 2014.
De Silva, as Founder Chairman of the Ceylon Cinnamon Association, was instrumental in highlighting the importance of the cinnamon industry over the last three decades. He counts over 25 years of experience in the tourism and leisure industry with the Serendib Hotels group, Director of Dolphin Hotels PLC and Hotel Sigiriya PLC and several other companies.

He was a Director of the Co-Operative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) from 1994 to 2000 and Acting Chairman in 1998 and Chairman of the committee appointed by the Trade and Commerce Minister in rafting the procurement of the CWE.

The other directors on the HVA board are Rohan Fernando (Chairman), H.J. Fernando (Executive Director), V.S.A. Fernando (Non-Executive Director) and N.C. Vitarana (Non-Executive Independent Director).