Board of Directors

Mr. Gary Seaton was born and educated in Sydney, Australia,completing his formal education at the University of NSW. He embarked upon a career in Agribusiness, joining the Gardner Smith Group as a trainee in 1975. In 1984, Mr. Seaton opened up Gardner Smith’s Singapore office as the first stepping stone to Gardner Smith’s expansion to become a global player in the world market before rejoining Gardner Smith in 1988 to head up their International Operations. Mr. Gary Seaton was responsible for the company’s expansion into global operations with the establishment of offices in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China, Korea, South Africa, United Kingdom, Tanzania and Turkey. He left Gardner Smith in 1998 to form his own group of companies including the Oceanic Group that continued their investments and involvements in Asia. Mr. Seaton currently heads the Oceanic Group which has operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka (tea and rubber plantations), India (investment in manufacturing plants) and Australia predominantly in the Agricultural Sector.

Mr. Gary has served as a Director Australian Oilseeds Investment since its inception. Mr. Seaton has also served as the Managing Director of Cootamundra Oilseeds Pty Ltd. (“Cootamundra”), Cowcumbla Investments Pty Ltd (“Cowcumbla”) and CQ Oilseeds Pty Ltd. since 2014, and he is Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Australian Oilseeds Holding a Nasdaq listed company.

Mr. Seaton also holds Directorship in Lotus Hydro Power PLC, Lotus Renewable Energy (Private) Limited, Thebuwana Hydro Power (Private) Limited, Stellenberg Hydro Power (Private) Limited, Halgranoya Hydro Power (Private) Limited, Zyrex Power Company Limited, HI – Tech Power System (Private) Limited, Sri Bio Tech Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, G & G Agro Commodities (Private) Limited and Good Earth Fertilizers (Pvt) Ltd.

Mr. Menaka Athukorala studied at Nalanda College Colombo and is a Higher National Diploma holder of Plantation Management and Agriculture and currently, he is pursuing his MBA. His career path started as a Junior Assistant Superintendent in 1992 and was promoted to Superintendent at Salawa Estate under Pussellawa Plantations Limited in 2002. He was subsequently promoted to Deputy General Manager. He joined Lalan Rubber as the Group General Manager in 2013 and is presently the Chief Operating Officer and Country Manager Director of Lotus Renewable Energy (Pvt) Ltd. He also carries out duties and responsibilities in the capacity of a Chief Executive Officer of Lotus Hydro Power PLC. Mr. Menaka Athukorala also holds Directorship in Origin Tea Exports (Private) Limited, Lotus Hydro Power PLC, Lotus Renewable Energy (Private) Limited, Thebuwana Hydro Power (Private) Limited, Stellenberg Hydro Power (Private) Limited, Halgranoya Hydro Power (Private) Limited, Lotus Mooloya Hydro Power (Private) Limited, Zyrex Power Company Limited, HI – Tech Power System (Private) Limited, Sri Bio Tech Lanka (Private) Limited and G & G Agro Commodities (Private) Limited. In addition, he is on the director board of NASDAQ-listed company, Australian Oil Seed Holdings Ltd in Australia.

Mr. Gowri Shankar is a passionate and versatile Mechanical Engineer, Management, Clean energy professional, Corporate strategist with over 21 years of experience in developed and developing markets. He is currently the Managing Director & CEO – G&G Group of Companies, Singapore. He has extensively contributed in the renewable energy space (Solar, Hydro Power Plants, Bio-fuel) & Agri- Commodity business and food processing business with hands on experience in structuring finance for Mergers & Acquisitions. Adept at negotiating with Governments, Vendors, Business Collaboration, Development Banks and Private Financing. He is leading an experienced team in South East Asia, apart from successfully managing companies in the diversified business, also provides consultancy to businesses in South East Asia and Australia. He has been involved in community development programmes in Africa, Australia, India and Sri Lanka. Recently he was awarded the “Distinguished Young Alumni of NIT ,Warangal”. He obtained a Bachelor of Technology degree in Machine Designing and Automation Engineering from NIT Jalandhar, India and MBA in Finance & Systems from NIT Warangal, India.

He is currently doing his research economics and international trade from NIT, Warangal. Mr. Gowri Shankar also holds Directorship in Australian Oilseeds holdings ( NASDAQ) , G&G Group of Companies (Singapore), Lotus Hydro Power PLC, Lotus Renewable Energy (Private) Limited Thebuwana Hydro Power (Private) Limited, Stellenberg Hydro Power (Private) Limited, Halgranoya Hydro Power (Private) Limited, Zyrex Power Company Limited and HI – Tech Power System (Private) Limited.

Mr. Indrajith Fernando is the Regional Director Asia of Global Best Practice Group (GBPG) an international Development professionals company. He is a member of the Audit Committee of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. He serves as a Chartered Institute of Securities Investments (CISI) Advisory Committee member in Sri Lanka and as a Non-Executive Director, Chairman of the Audit Committee and the Integrated Risk Management Committee of listed companies.

Indrajith serves as a Director on the Board of Hatton Plantations Plc, Lotus Hydro Power Plc, Strategic Insurance Brokers Pvt Limited and Beyond Wealth Pvt Ltd. Indrajith is a thought leader with over 31 years of experience in business and the accountancy profession. He is a past president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICA), Member of International Federation of Accountant (IFAC) Developing Nations Committee, President–South Asian Federation of Accountants, Advisor/ Chairman SAFA Committee on improving Transparency, Accountability and Governance (CiTAG). He is a fellow of the ICA-SL, CIMA UK and CMA Sri Lanka and a Senior Member of CPA-Maldives, He holds an MBA from the University of Queensland, Australia.

Mr. Hiro J Bhojwani was born and educated in Singapore, completing his formal education with a Bachelor of Business Administration from the National University of Singapore in 1982.

He joined his family business immediately upon graduation and was assigned to manage the MIS Department of the diversified group. After a thorough revamp of their accounting and financial reporting systems he was transferred to their Business Development Division in 1984. He was actively involved in and grew the Group’s core business of trading and global distribution of consumer electronics, garment manufacturing JVs in Philippines & Thailand and real estate investment and development in Singapore.

He expanded it’s business in consumer electronics with JVs in Singapore, Russia & Ukraine and company offices in Nigeria, Latvia and UAE and later in Angola. In 2001 he was appointed Group CEO and the group diversified further. Among the businesses, they built a Coffee Decaffeination plant in Vietnam and the first purpose-built co-living facility in London, England. He has served as Director on the Board of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry from 1998 to 2002 and again from 2012 to 2014.

Mr. Damascene Perera counts 46 years in the Tea Trade specializing in Warehousing, Marketing, Trading and Management. He started his career in 1978 at Janatha Estates Development Board (JEDB) and progressed to being an Assistant Manager. After serving JEDB for 13 years he joined its sister organization Sri Lanka State Plantations Corporation for one year as Deputy Director Warehousing. With the privatization of state owned plantations, he joined Hayleys Plantation Services as Marketing Manager and also served Hayleys Produce Marketing Ltd as a Director. In 1997 he formed his own value-added tea exporting company, Regency Teas (Pvt) Ltd, and he currently serves as its Chairman / Managing Director. He is also a Director of Melfort Green Teas (Pvt) Ltd and Yarl Hotels (Pvt) Ltd.

Mr. Lucille Wijewardena is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the Post Graduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayawardenepura. In his career spanning 40 years he has held many Senior Management positions in areas of Finance and General Management. He served as the Managing Director of Hayleys Plantations, Talawakelle Plantations Ltd and Pussellawa Plantations Ltd. He held the post of Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tea Board, Chairman of Mahaweli Marine Cement Company Ltd and Group Chief Accountant of Carson Cumberbatch and Company Ltd. He also held the position of Chairman at Softlogic Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd, Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Softlogic Capital PLC . He is Managing Director of Anuga Holdings (Pvt) Ltd and also serves on the Press Complaint Commission of Sri Lanka as a member of the Dispute Resolution Committee.

Mr. Aravinda De Silva, an all-time legend in the cricketing world, had an international career spanning over 20 years. He is the only cricketer to have scored a century and taken three wickets in a World Cup final, a feat he achieved during Sri Lanka’s victorious 1996 campaign. Mr. De Silva further continued his association with the game in Sri Lanka, serving in an advisory capacity to Sri Lanka Cricket and the Minister of Sports, as well as holding the positions of Vice President of Sri Lanka Cricket, Chairman of Selectors, and Chairman of the Cricket Committee on numerous occasions.

Mr. De Silva was selected as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1996, and he is oneof the five Sri Lankan cricketers named on the prestigious list. In 2023, Mr. De Silva was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, making him the fourth Sri Lankan to receive that honor.

Mr. Aravinda De Silva has seamlessly transitioned into the investment sector, showcasing remarkable precision and foresight. His journey from the cricket pitch to the investment arena exemplifies a commitment to strategic decision-making and successful ventures, positioning him as a role model for both aspiring athletes and investors.

He has been actively involved in infrastructure development and auto sector across multiple countries. Further, he has expanded his investments into the logistics and property, leveraging his international relationships and expertise to build strategic partnerships in mergers and acquisitions and he remain engaged as a private venture capital investments through his family office.

Mr. Aravinda De Silva further expanded his investment portfolio through his family office in to Ambeon Capital PLC, a company specializes in financial services & the parent company of MillenniumIT ESP (MIT). MIT is renowned for its critical role in technology solutions, leveraging over 27 years of expertise to serve global clients across diverse sectors and industries. Specializing in Telecommunications, Media, Banking and Finance, Manufacturing and Retail, Government, and the Commercial Sector, MillenniumIT ESP operates across various verticals, including Healthcare, Transportation, Leisure, Construction, and more, serving both local and regional markets.

Mr. P M B Fernando started his professional career at KPMG Ford Rhodes Thornton & Company and was a Partner of the Firm. He has extensive experience as Head of Finance, holding positions of Senior Vice President – Finance of Vanik and Forbes Ceylon Group, Group Finance Director of Confifi Group, and Director Finance – Asian Region of Virtusa (An Information Technology Company based in Boston USA).
In General Management Mr. Fernando was the Managing Director of Capital Reach Holdings Ltd, Director/Chief Executive Officer of Softlogic Finance PLC, Director/Chief Executive Officer of Laugfs Capital Ltd, and Chief Executive Officer of Orient Finance PLC.

He was a Non-Executive Independent Director and the Chairman of the Audit Committee of DFCC Bank PLC from 2013 to 2022 and The Lanka Hospitals Corporation PLC from 2020 to 2024. Currently, he is a Non-Executive Independent Director of Laugfs Gas PLC, Laugfs Power PLC, Renuka Hotels PLC, PGP Glass Ceylon PLC, and several other non-listed companies.

Mr. Fernando is a Fellow Member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of the UK. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Applied Science) Degree from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura.