Our Team
Our team is the secret to our success. Each of our employees is amazing in their own right, but together they are what makes us great.
Dr. Kulatunga Rajapaksa
Chairman/ Jt. Managing Director
PhD (H.C.) University of Sri Jayawardenapura D. Litt University of Westminster B. Sc (Hons) University of Peradeniya
Skills & Experience Dr. Kulatunga Rajapaksa was the former Chairman and the Group Managing Director of DSI Samson Groups (Pvt) Ltd. He has over 58 years of experience in the manufacture of footwear and rubber products.
Other Appointments He has served as a Council Member of several universities and is a past president of the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka and also of the Sri Lanka Association of Manufacturers and Exporters of Rubber Products, Sri Lanka Footwear & Leather Products Manufacturers Association and a Director of the Mawbima Lanka Foundation.
Dr. Kulatunga Rajapaksa was awarded with an honorary Doctorate from University of Sri Jayewardenepura in December 2019 on his contribution to the growth of DSI Samson Group and to the Sri Lankan business community.
Mr. D. Dilshan A. Rajapaksa
Jt. Managing Director
M. Sc. (Australia), B.Sc. Hons (UK)
Skills & Experience He Joined DSI Group in 2006 and has been working as the Marketing Director in many DSI clusters spanning across Footwear, Rubber Products, Coir Products, Clay Products bringing local and export revenue to the Group. He is the creator of many successful brands spanning across various product sectors launched in to the market in the local and international arena.
He has more than 12 years Marketing, Management & Information Technology experience in both local and overseas Companies.
He holds M.Sc. in Business Systems from the University of Monash, Australia and B.Sc. (Hons) in Information Systems from the University of Manchester Metropolitan, UK and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK.
Other Appointments He serves as a Director of DSI Samson Group (Pvt) Ltd., D. Samson Industries (Pvt) Ltd., Samson Compounds (Pvt) Ltd., Samtessi Brush Manufacturers (Pvt) Ltd, Samson Rajarata Tiles (Pvt) Ltd., Samson Insurance Brokers (Pvt)Ltd and Samson Investments (Pvt) Ltd.
Mr. Priyantha Abeygunawardana
Director/ General Manager
MBA, LLM, LLB, FCA, FCMA, FCCA, MCIM, Attorney-at -Law
Skills & Experience Mr. Priyantha Abeygunawardana is a triple-qualified Accountant holding the fellowship of CA, CIMA, ACCA and also an Attorney–at-Law. He obtained his LLB degree from the Open University of Sri Lanka and took his oaths as an Attorney-at-Law in 2004, having passed the requisite examinations held by the Sri Lanka Law College.
He also holds two Master’s degrees in two different fields, namely, MBA from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura specializing in Finance, and LLM from University of Colombo specializing in Company Law, Labour Law and Banking Law.
He is also member of Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK.
Previously he was at Ford, Rhodes, Thornton & Company, Hayley’s, Abans and lastly at Richard Piers Exports Plc, where he worked as General Manager for six years. With regard to his sports carrier, he toured Malaysia and Thailand with the Mercantile Hockey Association team (Combined Companies) as vice-captain in 1992. He also toured India with the Sri Lanka Schools’ Hockey team as vice-captain in 1979. He played in the CR & FC Hockey team from 1978 to 1988 and captained the CR & FC in 1986. He played Hockey and Football for Nalanda College for several years. Under his captaincy in 1979, Nalanda College Hockey team emerged champions in the under 19 All-Island inter school tournament.
Mr. Sanjeewa Weerakkodi
Assistant General Manager - Marketing
MBM, BA (Hons) (Economics), ACIM
Skills & Experience Mr Weerakkodi, is the Head of Marketing for the rubber segment and joined Samson International Plc in 2004. He holds a Master of Business Management from university of Colombo and a BA Honors degree in Economics from the University of Peradeniya. He is also an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK. Previously he worked in a rubber products manufacturing Company registered under BOI for two years.
Mr Naveendra Kumara
Manager - Commercial
MBA, MAAT, Dip in Business Mgt.
Skills & Experience Mr. Navindra Kumara has over 28 years’ experience at Samson International Plc and has served the Company since 1990. He has worked in different key positions during his career at Samson International Plc and now he is the head of the Commercial Department and also works for European market as a Manager-International Marketing. He holds an MBA from Manipal University of India and a Diploma in Business Management from NIBM.
Mr. Chanuka Jayasinghe
Marketing Manager
MPA (Australia), MBA (USJP), BBM (India), Adv.Dip.Acc (Australia)
Skills & Experience Mr. Chanuka Jayasinghe is responsible for developing new international markets. He previously worked for Microcells (Pvt) Ltd as a Senior Executive, international Marketing. Chanuka has over five years’ experience in marketing rubber products combined with his four years’ experience in the hospitality industry in Australia. He possesses a Master’s degrees in Professional Accounting from the University of Ballarat, Australia and Business Management from University of Jayawardanapura. He also has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the University of Bangalore, India.
Mr. Saminda Madushanka
Marketing Executive
Skills & Experience Mr. Saminda Madhusanka joined Samson international PLC on 1st of January 2019. He had 5 year experience as a Marketing Executive in the field of Construction at Geed Technologies (Pvt) Ltd.. He oversees the Local Market.
Mr. Asith Withanawasam
Marketing Executive
B.Com (Sp), Dip. in Business Statistics
Skills & Experience Mr. Asith Withanawasam joined Samson International PLC on 1st of March 2005 and was promoted as a Marketing Executive on 01st January 2021. He handles rubber-related products for the European market. He holds Bachelor of Commerce (Special) Degree & a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Statistics from the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka. He studied at St. Aloysius College Galle.
Mr. Nishantha Abeygunawardana
Business Development Manager
Skills & Experience Mr. Abeygunawardana joined Samson International Plc in July 2014 when we stepped into the PVC business. At present, he is the Head of Marketing for the PVC segment. Previously, he worked at Associated Motorways Ltd., Central Industries Plc and Okta PVC Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. for eighteen years. He is the Head of Marketing in PVC segment and all Field Sales Managers report to him.
Mr. P. Weerarathna
Field Sales Manager
Skills & Experience At present he is overseeing in the Southern, Sabaragamuwa and Eastern Provinces. He joined Samson International Plc on 15th September 2015 as Regional Sales Manager. He has worked 11 years at Kamal PVC Industries (Pvt) Ltd and 2 years at Janashakthi Insurance PLC. He studied at Embilipitiya Maha Vidyalaya. All sales managers and supervisors in this region report to him.
Mr. M.M.P. Kithulwatta
Field Sales Manager
Skills & Experience At present he is overseeing in the Western, Central, North Central and Wayaba Provinces. He has worked 5 years at Kamal PVC Industries (Pvt) Ltd. 4 years at Central Industries (Pvt) Ltd. and 2 years at St. Anthony’s Group (Pvt) Ltd. He works as the regional manager for the western north. He studied at Mitigahathanna Vidyalaya, Badulla. All sales managers and supervisors in this region report to him.
Mr. Janaka Sapukotana
Institutional Sales Manager
Skills & Experience Mr. Sapukotana joined Samson International in October 2016 as Assistant Business Development Manager to handle the PVC projects. Previously he worked at Arpitech (Pvt) Ltd. as Sales Executive for 15 years from 2000 to 2016. He studied at Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa. At present, he oversees Water Board and government tenders.
Mr. Pradeep Indika Somapala
Regional Manager
Skills & Experience He has worked 14 years at Kamal PVC Industries (Pvt) Ltd and 2 years at Apex Combine (Pvt) Ltd. He works as the regional manager for the western south. He studied at Vidyadarshi Maha Vidyalaya, Anuradhapura. He has experience working in many provinces in the Island.
Mr. M. Z. Ziyad
Regional Manager
Skills & Experience He has worked 2 years at Kamal PVC Industries (Pvt) Ltd., 1 years at Central Industries (Pvt) Ltd. and 3 years at Almarai Company in Saudi Arabia. He works as the Regional manager for the Eastern Province. He studied at Central College, Ampara.
Mr. Wimal Siriwardana
Executive, Research and Development, Galle and Kalutara Rubber Factories
Dip. in Rubber Technology; Certificate in Hydraulic Technology
Skills & Experience Mr. Siriwardana has over 26 years’ experience in research and development including at Samson International Plc and Samson Compounds Ltd. He holds the Diploma in Rubber Technology and Certificate in Hydraulic Technology and is a member of the Plastic and Rubber Institute of Sri Lanka. He is the Head of Research and Development department.
Mr. D.K. Dilan Madhushanka
Executive, Research and Development
Dip. in Rubber Technology
Skills & Experience Mr. Madhushanka joined as R&D Executive on 1st May 2018. He obtained his National Diploma in Technology from the University of Moratuwa in 2015. He previously worked at Samson Rubber Industries (Pvt) Ltd. as Executive in R&D Department for three years from February 2015 to January 2018.
Ms. Piumangani Seneviratne
Manager - Logistics
BMS (Sp) (OUSL), Dip. in Mgt (OUSL)
Skills & Experience Ms. Senevirathne handles the logistic operations of the rubber sector. She joined Samson International Plc in 1995 and has held several managerial positions in the shipping, export and supply departments. She was in the export department from 1995 to 2010. She holds Bachelor of Management Studies (Special) Degree and a Diploma in Management from the Open University of Sri Lanka.
Mr. Sisira Abeywickrama
Manager - Finance
B.Sc.(B.Ad.)Sp, ACA
Skills & Experience Mr. Sisira Abeywickrama is a Chartered Accountant and holds a B.Sc. Business Administration (Special) degree from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He joined Samson International Plc on 01st of March 2018 and he is the Head of Finance. He did his articles at Jayasinghe & Company. Prior to joining Samson International Plc, he worked at Asoka Glass & Company and Maga Naguma Road Construction and Equipment Company. He has seven years post qualifying experience as a Chartered Accountant.
Mr. Asanka Dimuth Edirisinghe
Executive, Production, Galle Factory
Dip. in Engineering Science
Skills & Experience Mr Asanka Edirisinghe is the head of Production in the Galle rubber factory. He holds a National Diploma in Engineering Sciences. He joined Samson International Plc on 1st of July 2013 and previously worked at Johnson Controls, Qatar, for three years as Service Engineer and at D. Samson Industries (Pvt) Ltd. for two years as Research & Development Engineering Assistant.
Mr. M. A. P. Janakantha
Executive, Production, Baddegama and Kalutara Factories
Dip. in Engineering Science; Dip. in Rubber Technology
Skills & Experience Mr. Janakantha holds a National Diploma in Engineering Sciences from the Institute of Engineering Technology and a Diploma in Rubber Technology from the Rubber & Plastic Institute. He has more than 22 years’ technical experience, of which 20 years has been at Samson International Plc. At present, he is the Production Executive at the Baddegama and Kalutara factories.
Mr. Himal Jayaranga
Production Manager
MBA, B.Sc. Engineering (Hons), AMIE
Skills & Experience Mr. Jayaranga works as Production Manager at Baddegama PVC Factory. He holds an MBA from Cardiff Metropolitan University and a B.Sc. Eng (Hons) degree from the University of Moratuwa. He is an associate member of institute of Engineers and is responsible for all research and development activities at the PVC plant. Previously, he worked as Production Engineer at St. Anthony’s Industries, Ekala.
Mr. Namal Nishantha
Assistant General Manager - Production
B.Sc., Dip. in Rubber Technology
Skills & Experience Mr. Namal works as Quality Assurance Manager and is the Management Representative of the Company for various quality-related audits. He holds a B.Sc Degree from the University of Kelaniya and also a Diploma in Rubber Technology. He Joined Samson International Plc in 1998 and has 22 years of experience working in the Quality Assurance Department of the Company.
Mr. Kasun Ranasinghe
Executive - Quality Assurance
M.Sc. (Polymer Science & Technology), MBA (UK), B.Sc.
Skills & Experience Mr. Kasun holds an M.Sc. Degree from the University of Sri Jayewardenapura, MBA from the University of Wolverhampton and a B.Sc. from the University of Colombo. He has joined Samson International Plc in 2019. Previously, he worked as Product-Process Development Executive at ACL Plastics PLC, Ekala for nearly two years and as Assistant Manager Research and Development at Kamal PVC Industries Pvt. Ltd., Ratmalana for one and half years. He studied in Taxila Central collage, Horana and Kalawana National School.
Mr. Nilantha Jayalal Gamage
Executive, Engineering
Dip. in Technology; PgDMM
Skills & Experience Mr. Nilantha Jayalal holds a National Diploma in Technology from the University of Moratuwa and has completed his Postgraduate Diploma in Manufacturing Management at the University of Colombo. He worked at Brollo Pipes and Profile Ltd, Nigeria, as Mechanical Engineer for two years prior to joining Samson International Plc in 2012. He is the head of the engineering department.
Mr. Sudeshpriya Gamage
Executive, Engineering
Dip. in Technology
Skills & Experience Mr. Sudeshpriya Gamage joined as Engineer on 15th January 2017. He obtained his National Diploma in Technology from the University of Moratuwa in 2012. He previously worked at Rodrogo & Sons (Pvt) Ltd for five years from February 2012 to January 2017. He is responsible for all moulds/die designing and improvements in all three plants.
Ms. Nishanthi Padmakumari
Assistant Manager - Human Resources
Dip. in Human Resources Management
Skills & Experience Mrs. Padmakumari joined Samson International Plc in 1993 and is the Head of the Human Resources Department at present. She holds a Diploma in Human Resource Management from NIBM and has over 26 years of experience in Human Resource Management.