Dhananath Fernando wins Asian award | Sunday Observer

Dhananath Fernando wins Asian award

25 February, 2018

Advocata Chief Operating Officer Dhananath Fernando won the Asia Think Tank Shark championship in Jakarta for a research study on ‘Cost of Construction and Protectionism’. Asia Think Tank Shark Tank is a championship for Asians to pitch their ideas on creating impact on public policy for helping economic prosperity in Asia.

Dhananath contested in the final round with two fellow contestants from Nepal and Indonesia and won the Asia Think Tank Shark Tank Championship tittle with $ 10,000 project grant for Sri Lanka to conduct the study.

Dhananath made a strong case on the high cost of construction in Sri Lanka and highlighted that more than 10 million Sri Lankans will be benefited if the border taxes were brought down which are unbelievably and unfairly high at the moment. He explained the total taxes at the border on wall tiles and floor tiles which is 108%, construction steel which is 90% and sanitary ware (commodes, squatting pans) which is 72% is completely unfair for a country where about 10 million people dreaming in their entire life to build a basic house. He further highlighted that cost of construction is 40% - 60 % higher in Sri Lanka compared to the religion which has negatively impacted the entire construction industry. He is a graduate from Atlas Leadership Academy, Washington DC and a Graduate from University of Colombo in Bio Science and Bio Chemistry and a founding member of Advocata Institute.

He is a volunteer at Candle Aid Lanka a humanitarian organization and a member of the founding team since the inception of ‘AK Lit Fest’ the platform for local literature lovers.

He hosts two flagship TV shows at ART Television namely ‘Public Space Sri Lanka’ and ‘Wake Up with ART’. 

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