Colombo, February 3: Sri Lankan corporate leaders Kandiah “Ken” Balendra and Harrry Jayawardena passed away at the age of 84 and 82 repectively, the Sri Lankan media reported on Monday..
Born in 1940, Balendra has held many corporate positions in Sri Lanka and the region. He served as the first Sri Lankan chairman of John Keells Holdings Ltd., the largest conglomerate in the island.
He was the chairman of Brandix Lanka Ltd. and the South Asia Regional Fund of the Commonwealth Development Corporation.
Top entrepreneur Harry Jayawardena, chairman of Sri Lanka’s Stassen group of companies and several of the large capitalized public listed firms had passed away, a group official said.
Companies in the group are in a wide range of sectors ranging from exports, foods, agriculture hotels and finance.
He also acquired and successfully expanded a number of businesses that were privatized by the state including Distilleries Corporation, Ceylon Milk Foods and Balangoda Plantations.
He was recognized with the Deshamanya titled for his services to Sri Lanka in 2005.
He was also the honorary consul for Denmark and was awarded the “Knight’s Cross of Dannebrog’ by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, for his contribution to the Danish arts, sciences and business life.
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