Mr. Karunatilaka Amunugama, Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs

Mr. Karunatilaka Amunugama was born on 16th January 1954 in Kandy. A past student of St. Thomas’ College, Matale, Mr. Amunugama has graduated from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura, Sri Lanka with Honours in Economics and Statistics.

He joined the Public Service in 1979 and the Sri Lanka Foreign Service in 1985. Since then Mr. Amunugama has held various positions in the Ministry of Foreign/ External Affairs as well as in Sri Lanka Missions abroad.

Mr. Amunugama has served as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand with concurrent accreditation to Vietnam, Cambodia and Lao PDR and was the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). Later he served as Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Japan and the People’s Republic of China prior to his appointment as the Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs on 28th March 2011.

The new Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. Karunatilaka Amunugama assumed office today (28th March 2011) at the Ministry at a simple ceremony. He was welcomed on his arrival by senior officials of the Ministry.

Mr. Amunugama was appointed as the new External Affairs Secretary succeeding Mr. Romesh Jayasinghe.

Mr. Amunugama joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service in 1985 and has served in many Sri Lanka Missions abroad.  He has also served as Sri Lanka's Ambassador in Bangkok, Tokyo and Beijing, prior to his appointment as the External Affairs Secretary.

Ministry of External Affairs
Colombo

26th April 2013