Rudra de Zoysa, a Sri Lankan living in New Zealand for the past 30 years, has been honoured by the Queen on her birthday.

He has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to Sri Lankans and the business community in New Zealand.

In New Zealand, Rudra has served as Honorary Consul for Sri Lanka for over 17 years and had been the Dean of the Wellington Consular Corps. He has used his extensive experience in the World Bank in management and business for the benefit of the wider trade community, conducting workshops for companies hoping to invest in Sri Lanka, facilitating parliamentary delegations and cultural exchanges between New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

He is a senior lecturer in management and is an active supporter of all the Sri Lankan associations and the Wellington Theravada Buddhist Association.

Married to Ramanie, a Chartered Accountant, they have two daughters Ruvanie and Rekha.