Career
He is the current Sri Lankan Ambassador to China and former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Education, Human Resources Development and Cultural Affairs and the 3rd Governor of the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. He also served as the Vice Chancellor of University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Sri Lankan Ambassador to Japan and Republic of of Korea. Kodituwakku received his Higher education at the University of Kelaniya where he gained a Bachelor (Honours) degree in Economics in 1968.
He received his Master of Arts degree from the University of New England (Australia) on a Colombo Plan scholarship, and his Doctorate Doctorate.Litt from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
Between 1968 and 1991, he served as a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. In 1978 he was seconded to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Employment as a planning director with the responsibility for the introduction of the graduate placement scheme to help ease high unemployment among graduates in the 1970s.
In 1983 he was appointed by the then-Sri Lankan president, J.R. Jayawardena, as the competent authority of the university when the incumbent Vice Chancellor resigned his post, and July that year he was appointed its Vice Chancellor which he held till April 1988. Post-graduate Management Institute (PIM), post graduate studies on forestry department, medical faculty and the library complex were started during his time as the Venture capital.
In 1988 Kodituwakku left Sri Lanka to serve as the Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Japan (1988–1989) and South of Korea (1989–1991).
After his return to Sri Lanka, he became the Governor of the Northwestern Province in 1993.
He served as an opposition Member of Parliament until 2001 and during this time was the Media Spokesperson of the UNP. The UNP Election victory of 2001 saw him appointed as the Cabinet Minister of Education, Human Resources Development, and Cultural Affairs. Kodituwakku was nominated as Sri Lanka"s candidate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Executive Board in 2003. He was elected as the Asia-Pacific Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Executive Board for 2003-2007, recording the highest number and a record number of votes in the election held at United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Headquarters in Paris, France.
In 2015, Doctor Kodituwakku was appointed the Sri Lankan Ambassador to China.