Social Innovation
Social procurement in Asia is an underutilized tool for good
Asian governments grappling with the need to stimulate growth and jobs while also bolstering welfare systems would do well to embrace social procurement.
Kithmina Hewage
Kithmina Hewage is Senior Advisor at the Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society (CAPS), where he leads CAPS’ policy engagement and strategic outreach efforts with governments, philanthropists, corporates, and non-profit organizations across 18 Asian economies to improve the quality and quantity of private social investments in Asia. Kithmina is also a member of the Expert Network of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Prior to joining CAPS, Kithmina has over 10 years of academic and professional experience in international development policy research, analysis, and consulting. This includes in the United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Sri Lanka. During his tenure at the British High Commission in Colombo from 2020 to 2022, Kithmina worked closely with senior political, business, and civil society figures both in Sri Lanka and in the United Kingdom.
In the period 2015 to 2020, Kithmina worked for the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS), the country’s foremost policy think-tank. As a trusted advisor across the political spectrum in Sri Lanka, he has been appointed to several government taskforces on macroeconomic and investment policy reforms. Additionally, he has served as a consultant for international organizations such as the World Bank and the International Trade Centre (ITC).
As a regular guest on television and radio programs in several countries, Kithmina provides insight into global political and economic developments. His op-eds have appeared in international publications such as Nikkei Asia and The Diplomat, while his research articles have been published by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and Routledge.
Kithmina holds a BA with university and departmental honors from Johns Hopkins University and a MSc in International Public Policy from University College London (UCL).
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