Bernard Goonetilleke

Bernard Goonetilleke joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service in 1970 and served Sri Lanka diplomatic missions in Kuala Lumpur, New York, Bangkok Washington D.C. Geneva, and Beijing.  He served as Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2003-2004. He was appointed Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva (1992-1997), and later, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China (2000-2003). He also served as Acting Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in New York (2004-2005) and ended his diplomatic career as Ambassador to the United States of America (2005-2008).

Following his retirement in 2008, he was appointed Chairman of the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) and later Chairman of Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), with positions he held concurrently from 2008 to 2010. Since May 2010, he functions as Chairman, Pathfinder Foundation.