Research Fellow and Head of International Economic Policy research at Institute of Policy Studies IPS, Sri Lanka. Since joining the IPS in 1999, his areas of research interest have been primarily related to trade issues at the bilateral, regional and multilateral levels. These include issues of policy significance to Sri Lanka in areas covering bilateral and regional preferential trade initiatives, multilateral negotiations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) and issues related to the textile and garment, tea and spice industries in Sri Lanka. He has been part of Sri Lanka’s official delegation representing the academia at regional forums such as Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC). He has also participated in various bilateral trade negotiations with other countries which Sri Lanka currently seeking agreements with. He has a number of publications to his name which have appeared as articles and chapters in both journal and book publications. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Journal of Indian Ocean Rim Studies (JIORS). Janaka Wijayasiri holds a BA in Economics with Development Studies from the University of Sussex, UK and an MA in Economics of Development from the Institute of Social Studies, the Netherlands, and PhD from Monash University, Australia. He has also received training in GTAP (Global Trade Analysis Project) from the Center for Global Trade Analysis, Purdue University, Canada.