Mr. Jayantha Karunarathne

Mr. Karunaratne is the founder, Chairman and Managing Director of the Imperial Teas Group. His 30-plus years of experience in the tea trade began in 1977 when he served as a Tea Taster at a leading tea export company in Sri Lanka. Extensive travel has given him in depth knowledge of overseas markets and trading concepts and methodologies. He is a former President of the Sri Lanka-Russia Business Council (SLRBC). He is a Committee member of the Tea Exporters Association and the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka. He is also a member of the American Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka. Mr. Karunaratne was a former member of the Committee of the Colombo Tea Traders Association. In September 2007, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce appointed him as leader of the Trade & Investment Promotion Mission to Russia and the Ukraine. He was also a member of the Sri Lanka Team that conducted negotiations with Russia regarding the latter's proposed accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).