Dialog Axiata yesterday announced that the company had commenced preparation for the succession of its Group Chief Executive at year end 2016.

The Dialog Board of Directors have decided to name Supun Weerasinghe as the Group Chief Executive with effect from 1st January 2017.

The move follows Dr Hans Wijayasuriya's appointment as he Regional CEO for South Asia of the Axiata Group earlier this year. 

Wijayasuriya will continue to serve on the Board of Directors of the Dialog Axiata Group. He will be responsible for the Axiata Group’s operations and investment interests in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka in his capacity as the Regional CEO for South Asia. 

Dr. Wijayasuriya has been Dialog CEO since 1997.

Supun Weerasinghe joined the Dialog Group in 1999 was appointed as Dialog’s Group Chief Operating Officer in 2010. In 2013, Weerasinghe took up an assignment as the Chief Strategy Officer of the Axiata Group at the Axiata Corporate Center in Kuala Lumpur. In 2014, he was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Robi Axiata in Bangladesh, a position he holds to date.

Weerasinghe will be appointed as Group’s Deputy Chief Executive and CEO designate in the fourth quarter of 2016, leading up to the completion of succession by year end.

Supun Weerasinghe is a fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants UK and holds an MBA from the University of Western Sydney Australia. He is a graduate of the University of Sri Jayawardenepura and an alumnus of the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. He was recently honoured as one of Sri Lanka’s Ten Outstanding Young Professionals (TOYP) by the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Sri Lanka.