Suresh DeMel
Suresh completed his tertiary education with a Bachelor of Science Degree from California and worked in the US as an Agricultural and Environmental Engineer for 10-years. He returned home in 1990 and invested in Tangalla – a post conflict area at the time, to employ unemployed young women and earn foreign exchange for the country by manufacturing Designer Fishing Flies (Artificial Sport Fishing Bait) for Export to the US. Lanka Fishing Flies (Pvt) Ltd., a pioneering export industry, was started by his father in 1981 as a cottage industry in their home in Nugegoda. Today the Company employs 200-women in Tangalla, Ratnapura and Nugegoda, producing the world’s best quality fishing flies for export. He is also the Chairman of EcoWave (Gte) Ltd and EcoWave Travels, which are Social Enterprises working with 200 spice farmers in the Moneragala and Ampare Districts, promoting Sustainable Organic Agriculture and Responsible Eco/Agro Tourism. He actively serves on several Boards and Committees – Government and Non-Government, for the development of regional SME’s, entrepreneurship, vocational training, labor relations, responsible tourism, sustainable agriculture, and exports.
