Armenia

Tigran Sargsyan became ambassador of Armenia to the United States on July 14, having previously served as the country’s prime minister since 2008. From 1998 to 2008, Ambassador Sargsyan was twice appointed to serve as chairman of the Republic of Armenia Central Bank. He was also director of the Transition Society Research Institute from 1995 to 2008. Prior to that, he was chairman of the Armenian Bankers’ Association (1995-98) and a lecturer in banking management at Yerevan State University (1993-94). In addition, Ambassador Sargsyan was an MP in the Armenian National Assembly and chairman of its standing commission on financial-crediting and fiscal affairs, as well as a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Council (1990-95). He was also chairman of the Republican Council of Young Specialists and Scientists (1988-93) and head of the International Relations Unit and senior researcher in the R&D Institute of Economy and Planning (1987-90). Ambassador Sargsyan graduated from the National Economy, Planning and Economy Department in Yerevan, the Financial-Economic Institute after N.A. Voznesensky in the Soviet Union, as well as the International Institute of Law and the Institute of Economic Development in D.C.

Sri Lanka

Prasad Kariyawasam became ambassador of Sri Lanka to the United States on July 14, having previously served as high commissioner for Sri Lanka to India with concurrent accreditation as ambassador to Bhutan and Afghanistan since 2009. From 1998 to 2001, he served as the deputy high commissioner for Sri Lanka in India, holding the rank of an ambassador. From 2001 to 2004, he was Sri Lanka’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, while also holding the positions of consul general to Switzerland, personal representative of the Head of State of Sri Lanka to the G-15, as well as ambassador to the Holy See in the Vatican. From 2005 to 2008, Ambassador Kariyawasam served as Sri Lanka’s permanent representative to the United Nations in New York and was concurrently accredited as the high commissioner of Sri Lanka to Jamaica and the Bahamas, as well as ambassador to Chile and Colombia. Ambassador Kariyawasam, who joined the Sri Lankan Foreign Service in 1981, has also held diplomatic posts in Geneva (1983-87), Riyadh (1989-92) and Washington, D.C. (1995-98). At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he held assignments in the Divisions of United Nations and Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Political Affairs, Administration, Economic Affairs and as the special assistant to the foreign secretary. He was also director of the South Asia Division, director-general of the Economic Affairs Division and the official spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the director of publicity. Ambassador Kariyawasam is married and has a daughter and a son.