On 8 March 2007, the Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs Rohitha Bogollagama, addressed the audience at IISS. Mr Bogollagama spoke on 'Sri Lanka's Foreign and Security Policy: The Challenge of Terrorism'.
The Hon Rohitha Bogollagama, MP, was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 28 January 2007. He previously served as the Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion, Minister of Advanced Technology and National Enterprise Development, and Minister of Industries. Minister Bogollagama also represented the Sri Lankan Government at the two rounds of peace talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Geneva last year, and was the Spokesman of the Government delegation. He entered Parliament in 2000 and served in the Parliamentary Consultative Committees on Finance, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Industrial Development & Investment Promotion, and Power & Energy.
Prior to his political career, the Hon Rohitha Bogollagama served as the Chairman and Director General of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka and Chairman of the Sri Lanka Cement Corporation. As a member of the legal profession for over 30 years, his expertise in trade, shipping and commercial law took him on several assignments for negotiations and dispute settlement in Europe and Asia. He also represented several international firms during his career at the bar.
