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Ten Successful Entrepreneurs profile in Bangladesh
« on: August 05, 2012, 10:22:24 AM »
01: A.K Azad
Born
A.K Azad comes of a respectable Muslim family of Jhiltuli, Faridpur on December 31, 1959. His father’s name is Late Alhaj MA Aziz who was a respected personality among the people of Faridpur.
Education
This talented and self determined industrialist. Mr. Azad did his B.sc Honors in Applied Physics in 1983 from University of Dhaka.
Early Career
After completion his higher education Mr. Azad did not try to have any government job rather he engaged himself with business. Despite having many impediments as well as problems in his business Mr. Azad overcome it with courage and by applying his merit and perseverance he established a business hub namely ‘Ha-Meem Group of Companies’ and since inception he has been carrying out his responsibilities as its Managing Director. Meanwhile Ha-Meem Group of Companies has earned name and fame both at home and abroad. The uninterrupted continuation of this group is moving forward to the industrialization of the country and at the same time it has been contributing enormously in the economic growth of the country also. Mr. A.K Azad does not think the initiative of commerce and industry only based on profit; he considers it the best way for resolving the unemployment problems also. It seems to him if the private entrepreneurs are not coming forward to industrializations, the country might lag behind and the rate of unemployment people could have been increased many folds.
Recognition
. Mr. A.K Azad is one of those who have been playing a pivotal role to make an industrialized Bangladesh. A very young, energetic and sincere industrialist is the Chairman & Managing Director of Ha-Meem Group of Companies, one of the leading business conglomerates of the country. Under the dynamic leadership of Mr. A.K Azad, this group has been contributing significantly in a bid to expand RMG sector to a great extent. It is worth mentioning that once this country was famous for textile industry and especially for ‘Moslin’, this country was very well-known elsewhere in the world. But later on the British rulers and their allies hatched conspiracy to destroy the famous ‘Moslin’. Mr. A.K Azad is one of them who saved this industry during its bad days. Many entrepreneurs of RMG sector were scared about the post cota free situation but during these periods Mr. A.K Azad along with his fellow entrepreneurs moved forward with strong determination and faced the situation boldly. Now meeting the local demand the Bangladeshi RMG products are being exported to many countries across the globe including Europe and America and earning huge amount of (over 75%) foreign currencies. Mr. A.K Azad is playing a vital role to create markets of textile industry in other countries across the world.
Philanthropy
Alongside trade, commerce and industry Mr. A.K Azad is also involved in newspaper industry. He is the founder and publisher of The Daily Samakal, a leading Bengali Daily of the country. He has also been contributing significantly in education sector. His father late MA Aziz was very much well known a social worker and education loving and in recognition of his contribution the people of his locality has established a High School after his name. Mr. AK Azad is also a social worker. He has extended his support and cooperation in many educational institutions in the form of contribution and ‘scholarship’ and he has helped to established many socio-cultural organization so far.
Honor and Awards
A man of versatile qualities Mr. A.K Azad does not think only for his own business organization. He always thinks about the prospects and problems of the overall business and industry of the country. He was the president of Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) for the two consecutive periods. Mr. Azad is the president Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).He has also been honored by many socio-cultural organizations for his outstanding contributions to the growth of our national economy.

02: Samson H. Chowdhury

Born

Samson H. Chowdhury was born in 25 September 1925 into Pabna Bangladesh. He was an entrepreneur in Bangladesh. He was a Chairman of Astras Ltd. and Square (Bangladesh). Education

Samson H. Chowdhury was born on 25 September 1925. He studied at Senior Cambridge. He completed a management training course jointly sponsored and conducted by University of Dhaka and Harvard University.

Work

After completing his education he returned to what was then East Pakistan and settled in Ataikula village in the Pabna district, where his father was working as a medical officer in an outdoor dispensary. In 1952 he started a small pharmacy in Ataikula village which is about 160 km off capital Dhaka in the north-west part of Bangladesh.
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He served as a vice president of the Baptist World Alliance from 1985 to 1990. In addition to being a BWA vice president, Chowdhury served in other areas of the global Baptist organization, including on the BWA General Council, the Executive Committee, the Baptist World Aid Committee, the Promotion and Development Committee, and the Memorial Committee. Chowdhury was elected president of the Bangladesh Baptist Church Fellowship (BBCF) a dozen times, and was honorary general secretary for 14 years, between 1956 and 1969. He was a president of both the National Church Council of Bangladesh and the National Evangelical Alliance.

Recognition
Chowdhury was recognized as a Global Business Leader in his country. He had been awarded with various national and international recognitions from various business associations. He was considered as a Commercially Important Person (CIP) in Bangladesh. Chowdhury ventured into a partnership pharmaceutical company with three of his friends in 1958. When asked why the name SQUARE was chosen he recalled: “We named it SQUARE because it was started by four friends and also because it signifies accuracy and perfection meaning quality�[ as they committed in manufacturing quality products. That company is, as of 2012, a publicly listed diversified group of companies employing more than 28,000 people. The current yearly group turnover is 616 million USD.

Positions

• Chairman, Square Group. • Chairman, Mutual Trust Bank board of directors Chairman, Astras Ltd. • Honorary Member, Kurmitola Golf Club. • Former Vice President, Baptist World Alliance, 1985-1990 Former Chairmen, Micro Industries Development & Services (MIDAS). • Chairman, Transparency International, Bangladesh Chapter, 2004–2007. • President, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce & Industries, Dhaka in 1996 and 1997. • Vice-President: International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh. • Former Director, the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI). • Member, Executive Committee of Bangladesh French Chamber of Commerce and Industry... • Director, Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh. • Chairman, Central Depository Bangladesh Ltd. • Member, Advisory Committee of the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries. • Founder President, Bangladesh Association of Publicly Listed Companies.

Honor and Awards

“Business Executive of the Year� by American Chamber in Bangladesh in 1998. “Best Entrepreneur of the Country for the year 2000–2001� by the Daily Star and DHL Worldwide Express. "Special contribution in country's industrial and commercial sectors for the year 2003" by "Mercantile Bank Award 2003" For Uncompromising Business Ethics, Honesty & Transparency of the year 2005 by "Banker's Forum Award - 2005". Recipient of ICAB National Award “Best Published Accounts and Reports 2006 in the Manufacturing Sector�. Recipient of NBR Award one of the Highest Tax-Payers in 2007-2008. Recognized by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) as one of the top ten tax payers of the country since 2005. Recipient of CIP (Industry) 2009-2010 status by the Government of The Peoples Republic of Bangladesh.

Death

Samson H. Chowdhory was died 5 January 2012 Singapore & his aged 86. He was one of the best entrepreneurs of Bangladesh.

03: Dr. Muhammad Yunus
Born
Dr. Mohammod Yunus was born on 28 June 1940 to a Muslim family in the village of Bathua, by the Boxirhat Road in Haathajari, Chittagong, inBangladesh. His father was Hazi Dula Mia Shoudagar, a jeweler, and his mother was Sufia Khatun.
Early life and education
His early childhood years were spent in the village. In 1944, his family moved to the city of Chittagong, and he was shifted to Lamabazar Primary School from his village school. By 1949, his mother was afflicted with psychological illness. Later, he passed the matriculation examination from Chittagong Collegiate School securing the 16th position among 39,000 students in East Pakistan. In 1957, he enrolled in the department of economics at Dhaka University and completed his BA in 1960 and MA in 1961.
After graduation
During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, Yunus founded a citizen's committee and ran the Bangladesh Information Center, with other Bangladeshis living in the United States, to raise support for liberation. He also published the Bangladesh Newsletter from his home in Nashville. After the War, Yunus returned to Bangladesh and was appointed to the government's Planning Commission headed by Nurul Islam. He found the job boring and resigned to join Chittagong University as head of the Economics department. He became involved with poverty Reduction after observing the famine by 1974, and established a rural economic program as a research project. In 1975, he developed a Nabajug (New Era) Tebhaga Khamar (three share farm) which the government adopted as the Packaged Input Programme. In order to make the project more effective, Yunus and his associates proposed the Gram Sarkar (the village government) programme.
Early career
In 1976, during visits to the poorest households in the village of Jobra near Chittagong University, Yunus discovered that very small loans could make a disproportionate difference to a poor person. Jobra women who made bamboo furniture had to take out usurious loans for buying bamboo, to pay their profits to the moneylenders. His first loan, consisting of US$27.00 from his own pocket, was made to 42 women in the village, who made a net profit of BDT 0.50 (US$0.02) each on the loan. Accumulated through many loans, this vastly improving Bangladesh's ability to export and import as it did in the past, resulting in a greater form of globalization and economic status. Dr. Yunus believed that given the chance the poor will repay the borrowed money and hence microcredit could be a viable business model.
Yunus finally succeeded in securing a loan from the government Janata Bank to lend it to the poor in Jobra in December 1976. The institution continued to operate by securing loans from other banks for its projects. By 1982, the bank had 28,000 members. On 1 October 1983 the pilot project began operations as a full-fledged bank and was renamed the Grameen Bank (Village Bank) to make loans to poor Bangladeshis. Yunus and his colleagues encountered everything from violent radical leftists to the conservative clergy who told women that they would be denied a Muslim burial if they borrowed money from the Grameen Bank.
Recognition
Muhammad Yunus was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Grameen Bank, for their efforts to create economic and social development. In the prize announcement The Norwegian Nobel Committee mentioned:
Muhammad Yunus has shown himself to be a leader who has managed to translate visions into practical action for the benefit of millions of people, not only in Bangladesh, but also in many other countries. Loans to poor people without any financial security had appeared to be an impossible idea.
Muhammad Yunus was the first Bangladeshi and third Bengali to ever get a Nobel Prize. After receiving the news of the important award, Yunus announced that he would use part of his share of the $1.4 million award money to create a company to make low-cost, high-nutrition food for the poor; while the rest would go toward setting up an eye hospital for the poor in Bangladesh. Publications • Three Farmers of Jobra; Department of Economics, Chittagong University; 1974 • Planning in Bangladesh: Format, Technique, and Priority, and Other Essays; Rural Studies Project, Department of Economics, Chittagong University; 1976 • Jorimon and Others: Faces of Poverty (co-authors: Saiyada Manajurula Isalama, Arifa Rahman); Grameen Bank; 1991 • Grameen Bank, as I See it; Grameen Bank; 1994 etc
Honor and Awards
He is one of only seven persons to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal Other notable awards include the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1984, the World Food Prize, the International Simon Bolivar Prize (1996), the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord and the Sydney Peace Prize in 1998, and the Seoul Peace Prize in 2006. Additionally, Dr. Yunus has been awarded 50 honorary doctorate degrees from universities across 20 countries, and 113 international awards from 26 different countries including state honors from 10 countries. Bangladesh government brought out a commemorative stamp to honor his Nobel Awar
04: Atiur Rahman
Atiur Rahman is the Governor of Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of the country. A development economist of Bangladesh, he is noted for writing on popular economic issues, and has written a good number of books both in Bengali and English.
Early life
From a very humble background Atiur Rahman rose to the top echelon of the society. He was born in a remote village in Jamalpur district in 1951. His father who was a landless farmer had received no schooling in his life. Atiur went to the school but had to quit after grade-III because of poverty. However his strong determination and will power made him conquer all the barriers. He had to sit for the class IV final examinations without attending any class. But when the result came out, his name topped the list.
Education
Atiur's mother came off a better background and was literate. It was she who was Atiur's first teacher. Atiur went to the village school till gradeVI. After grade-VI he wanted to go to a Cadet College for better education. Eventually he got admitted to the prestigious Mirzapur Cadet College of the-then Mymensingh in grade-VII. A school teacher of the village Foyez Moulavi collected charity to facilitate his admission. Considering his financial inability, the college authority granted him free tuition. Thus he could continue at the college from where he passed the SSC and HSC examinations with outstanding results securing positions in the merit list both times. He went to the Dhaka University for studying economics. After obtaining BSS and MSS in Economics, he applied for Commonwealth scholarship and was successful. He went to SOAS, London, from where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1977. His Ph.D. thesis later came out as a book under the title "Peasants and Classes" published by the Oxford University Press, which is much admired by the economists worldwide and is being used as a reference book in many universities throughout the world.
Work
On 29 April 2009, he was appointed as the governor of Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of the country, for tenure of four years. He assumed charge on 3 May 2009. He is the 10th governor of the Bangladesh Bank, succeeding Dr. Salehhddin Ahmed. Till then he was a professor in the department of Development Studies at the Dhaka University. Before that he had worked at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies in different capacities for nearly 28 years and retired as Senior Research Fellow on 4.4.2006. He also served as director of the state-owned Sonali Bank, the largest in Bangladesh. In 2001, government appointed him as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Janata Bank, the second-largest in the country. In 1994, he established a development NGO under the title Unnayan Samannay which grew into an excellent centre for research, development and cultural learning in Bangladesh. He was the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Shamunnay till taking up the job of the governor of Bangladesh. In 2006 he joined the Dhaka University in the department of Development Studies as a professor. Also, he has played a major role in the much publicized microcredit revolution in Bangladesh, erving in Mohammed Yunus' National Task Force on Poverty Eradication. He worked as Project Director or Team Leader of as many as twenty international and fifty national development projects of the country. He was also involved in the management of a number of socio-cultural organizations including Credit Development Forum, Monajatuddin Smriti Sangsad, Bangladesh Economic Association and Asiatic Society and BangIa Academy.
Poverty alleviation
Atiur Rahman has distinguished himself as an expert on poverty alleviation. It is his pet area and he has been engaged in first hand research to find the causes of poverty and means of remedy. One of the most important researches is his work on char (shoal) dwellers and poverty alleviation.
Publications
Bengali language • Agami Diner Bangladesh: Ekusa sataker Unnayana Bhabana, Pathak Samabes, ISBN 984-8120-39-4 • Alo andharer Bangladesh: Manab Unnayaner Sambhabana O Cyalenja, Mawla Bradarsa, ISBN 984-410-337-1 • Apaunnayan: Samakalin Bangladesher Arthaniti, Samajniti, Pyapirasa, ISBN 984-8065-66-0 • Janaganer Bajet: Amsagrahanamulaka Pariprekshita, Pathaka Samabesa, ISBN 984-8120-28-9

Awards and recognition
Atiur Rahman was awarded the Atish Dipankar Gold Medal in 2000 and the Chandrabati Gold Medal in 2008.

05: Sir Fazle Hasan Abed
Born
Sir Fazlay Hasan Abed Was Born in1936 Baniachong British India now in Habiganj, His Father Name Siddiq Hasan & his Mother Name Syeda Sufya Khatun.
Education
He left home to attend University of Glasgow, where, and in an effort to break away from tradition and do something radically different - he studied Naval Architecture. But there was little work in ship building in Pakistan and a career in Naval Architecture would make returning home difficult. With that in mind, Abed joined the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in London, completing his professional education in 1962.
Work
Abed returned to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to join Shell Oil Company and quickly rose to head its finance division. His time at Shell exposed Abed to the inner workings of a large conglomerate and provided him with insight into corporate management, which would become invaluable to him later in life.
It was during his time at Shell that the devastating cyclone of 1970 hit the eastern coastal regions of the country, killing 300,000 people. The cyclone had a profound effect on Abed - in the face of such devastation, the comforts and perks of a corporate executive's life ceased to have any attraction for him. Together with friends, Abed created HELP, an organization that provided relief and rehabilitation to the worst affected in the island of Manpura, which had lost three quarters of its population in the disaster.
Soon after, Bangladesh’s own struggle for independence from Pakistan began and circumstances forced Abed to leave the country. He found refuge in England, where he set up Action Bangladesh to lobby for his country’s independence with the governments of Europe.
Formation of BRAC
When the war ended in December 1971, Abed sold his flat in London and returned to the newly independent Bangladesh to find his country in ruins. In addition, the 10 million refugees who had sought shelter in India during the war had started to return home. Their relief and rehabilitation called for urgent efforts. Abed decided to use the funds he had generated from selling his flat to initiate his own. He selected the remote region of Sulla in northeastern Bangladesh to start his work. This work led him and the organization he founded, BRAC, to deal with the long-term task of improving the living conditions of the rural poor.
In a span of only three decades, BRAC grew to become the largest development organization in the world in terms of the scale and diversity of its interventions. As BRAC grew, Abed ensured that it continued to target the landless poor, particularly women, a large percentage of who live below the poverty line with little or no access to resources or conventional development efforts.
BRAC now operates in more than 69 thousand villages of Bangladesh and covers an estimated 110 million people through its development interventions that range from primary education, essential healthcare, agricultural support and human rights and legal services to microfinance and enterprise development. It is now considered the largest non-profit in the world - both by employees and people served.
In 2002, BRAC went international by taking its range of development interventions to Afghanistan. Since then, BRAC has expanded to a total of eight countries across Asia and Africa, successfully adapting its unique integrated development model across varying geographic and socioeconomic contexts.
Professional positions: last 10 years
Abed has held the following positions • 2005 – Commissioner, UN Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor (CLEP) • 2002 - Global Chairperson, International Network of Alternative Financial Institutions (INAFI) International. • 2001 - Chairman, Board of Directors, BRAC Bank Limited. • 2001 - President, The Governing Board of BRAC University. • 2000 - Chairman, Governing Body, BRAC. • 2000 - Chair, Finance & Audit Committee, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Banos, Philippines.
Awards
• The Alan Shawn Feinstein World Hunger Award, 1990 • The Maurice Pate Award by UNICEF, 1992 • The Ol of Palme Prize, 2001 • The Social Entrepreneurship Award by the Schwab Foundation, 2002 • The International Activist Award by the Gleitsman Foundation, 2003 • The UNDP Mahbub ul Haq Award, 2004. • The Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership, 2007. • The inaugural Clinton Global Citizen Award, 2007. • The David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award, 2008. • Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG), 2009. • Honorary LLD, University of Bath, 2010. • The WISE Prize for Education, 2011.
06: Abu Nasser Muhammad Abduz Zaher

Prof. Abu Nasser Muhammad Abduz Zaher, Chairman, Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd. the first and leading Islamic Bank (based on Islamic Shariah) of South - East Asia was born in a respectable Muslim family of Companyganj of Noakhali Dist. in the year 1948.

Early life

He achieved his Masters Degree in English literature from the University of Rajshahi. He started his professional life with teaching at Khandaker Mosharrof Hossain Degree College in the early seventies. Later he joined at the Royal Embassy of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Dhaka, Bangladesh as the Secretary and performed duties for about 13 years. He is now the Managing Director of Ibn Sina Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a prominent Pharmaceutical Company in Bangladesh.

Work

He is the Chairman of Islamic Banks Consultative Forum (IBCF), Industrialists and Businessmen Welfare Foundation (IBWF). He is the Vice Chairman of Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB). He is the Advisor of Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries. He is also a Board Member of General Council for Islamic Banks & Financial Institutions (CIBAFI). He is an honoured personality for his pioneer steps in establishment of Islamic banking systems as well as Islamic Economics.

Professor Abduz Zaher was the Director of IBBL in different times and was the Chairman of the Executive Committee. He is a Founding Member of Fouad Al Khateeb Foundation, Badhsa Faisal Institute, Ibn Sina Trust Dhaka, Manarat International School & College, Ibn Tymia College, Islamic Education Society, Bangladesh Islamic Centre and Syndicate member of the Manarat International University of Bangladesh.

Social work

Professor Zaher is playing vital role in social welfare related works. He is related with founding and development of hundreds of educational institutions. He patronized to establish many renowned private hospitals and helped thousands of people for treatment. He helped many poor people to avail housing facility, many poor students in their education and marriage of many poor brides.

07: Ranada prasad Saha
Born
Ranadaprasad Saha was born 15 November 1896 Savar near Dhaka and also known as RP Saha and Ranoda Proshad Shaha, was a famous Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi businessman and philanthropist.
Early life
Ranada Prasad father Debendranath hailed from Mirjapur in Tangail Subdivission in Mymensingh district. At the age of seven he lost his mother who died of tetanus during childbirth. Being born into a poor family he didn't receive much of an education. At the age of sixteen he fled to Kolkata in search of a new future. Early Career
Ranada Prasad joined the Bengali Ambulance Corps and went to the War. He was first posted in Mesopotamia and then in Karachi. As reward for his services rendered to the wounded, Ranada Prasad was commissioned in 1916 in the newly formed Bengal Regiment. After the war was over, he met George V. He got a job in the Indian Railway department as a war veteran.
In 1932 he lost the job and started a small business in salt and coal in Kolkata. He bought a ship named 'Bengal River'. Ranada Prasad was appointed one of the agents to buy food grains for the Government. He bought three powerhouses at Narayangonj, Mymensinghand, Comilla and owned the 'George Anderson Company' of Narayanganj that used to make jute bales. He also started a leather business.
Philanthropy
Ranada Prasad, was a fairly rich man, dedicated himself to the service of the suffering humanity. In 1938 he opened a charitable hospital at his native village Mirzapur on the river Lauhajang. During the famine of 1943-44 he maintained 275 gruel houses to feed the hungry for 8 months. On 27 July 1944 the hospital which had 20 beds was opened by Richard Casey, Baron Casey, the then Governor of Bengal. He named it 'Kumudini Hospital', after his mother Kumudini whose suffering from lack of medical care inspired him to establish a hospital for the poor, so that people, especially women, would not suffer the way his mother had. He didn't care about death rates as many hospitals did and made sure no one was ever turned back. The Maternity Wing of the Dhaka Combined Military Hospital was established with his financial support.
To spread female education he founded in 1942 a fully residential school at Mirzapur and named it 'Bharateswari Bidyapith' after Bharateswari Devi, his grandmother. In 1945 this institution was renamed 'Bharateshwari Homes'. It has 1200 seats as of 2010 and is rerenownd for producing well-rounded, socially responsible students who have gone on to excel in their respective fields. Founded the Komodini Collage at Tangail in 1943 and the 'Debendra College' at Manikgonjin 1944 to commemorate his mother and father respectively. He set up the 'Mirzapur Pilot Boys' School', 'Mirzapur Pilot Girls' School', and 'Mirzapur Degree College'.
In 1947, R.P. Saha placed all his companies in a trust by the name of 'Kumudini Welfare Trust (KWT)', with the earnings from the income generating activities such as jute baling press and a river transportation business, being used to run the welfare activities.
Awards and honors
In appreciation of his humanitarian work the British Government conferred on RP Saha the title of Ray Bahadur In 1978 he was posthumously awarded the Independence Day Award by the Government of Bangladesh as recognition of his social works.
Death
In April 1971, during the Liberation War of Bangladesh, despite a good working relationship with the Pakistani authorities as well as all preceding and successive governments, Saha, with his 26 year old son Bhavani Prasad Saha, was picked up by the Pakistani occupation army. They returned home after about a week, but were picked up again a day later on 7 May, after which they were never heard from again.

08: Iqbal Z. Quadir
Iqbal Z. Quadir born August 13, 1958 in Jessore, Bangladesh, founder of Gonofone and Grameenphone. He is currently the Founder and Director of the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and member of Advisory Board at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology.
Early years
Quadir was born in Jessore, Bangladesh and moved to the United States in 1976 and later became a naturalized U.S. citizen. He passed his Secondary School Certificate from Jhenidah Cadet College, Bangladesh. He received a B.S. with honors from Swarthmore College (1981), an M.A. (1983) and an M.B.A. (1987) from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Finance, development, and entrepreneurial success
Quadir served as a consultant to the World Bank in Washington, D.C., (1983–1985), an associate at Coopers & Lybrand (1987–1989), an associate of Security Pacific Merchant Bank (1989–1991), vice president of Atrium Capital Corporation (1991–1993), and founded Grameenphone in Bangladesh during 1993-1999. He served in the management and on the Board of Grameenphone during 1996-1999.
Quadir’s vision, which was deemed radical at the time, was to create universal access to telephone service in Bangladesh and to increase self-employment opportunities for its rural poor. In 1993, Quadir started a New York-based company named Gonofone (Bengali for “phones for the masses�), which later became the launch-pad for Grameenphone. Currently the largest telephone company in Bangladesh with nearly sixteen million subscribers, Grameenphone provides telephone access to more than 100 million rural people living in 60,000 villages and generates revenues close to $1 billion annually. With infrastructure investments of more than $1 billion, Grameenphone is providing cellular coverage throughout Bangladesh.
Quadir's vision of a large-scale commercial project led him to organize a global consortium involving Telenor, Norway’s leading telecommunications company; an affiliate of micro-credit pioneer Grameen Bank in Bangladesh (winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize); Marubeni Corp. in Japan; Asian Development Bank in the Philippines; Commonwealth Development Corp. in the United Kingdom; and International Finance Corp. and Gonofone in the United States. He attracted these investors by complementing his vision of connecting all of Bangladesh with a practical distribution scheme whereby village entrepreneurs, backed by micro-loans, could retail telephone services to their surrounding communities. In fact, Quadir coined the phrase ‘connectivity is productivity’ to explain the unique impact of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), particularly mobile telephones, in improving economic efficiency.[2][3]
Grameenphone’s success has been lauded as a model for a novel approach to improving economic opportunity and connectivity and empowering citizens in poor countries, through profitable investments in technology. According to Economist Jeffrey Sachs Grameenphone ‘opened the world’s eyes to expanding the use of modern telecommunications technologies in the world’s poorest places.’ [4]
From 2001-2005, Quadir served as a fellow at the Harvard's Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, and at the Center for Business Innovation at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (now Capgemini). As a lecturer, he taught graduate-level courses on the effects of technology in developing countries at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University. Quadir subsequently moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where in 2007 he founded the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship.
Quadir coined the phrase invisible leg to describe how technological innovations change economies in terms of the distribution of economic and political influence.[5][6]
Recognition
Quadir's work has been recognized by leaders and organizations worldwide, with invitations to speak at many forums, including the World Bank, United Nations, World Economic Forum, and Aspen Institute. In 1999, Quadir was selected Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum based in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2006, he became the 12th recipient of the prestigious Science, Education and Economic Development (SEED) Award from the Rotary Club of Metropolitan Dhaka, for initiating universal telephone coverage to Bangladesh. He appeared on CNN and PBS and was profiled in feature articles in the Harvard Business Review (Bottom-Up Economics, Aug 2003, & Breakthrough Ideas for 2004, Feb 2004), Financial Times, The Economist, and The New York Times, and in several books. In Spring 2007, Wharton Alumni Magazine selected Quadir for its list of 125 Influential People and Ideas. In 2011, he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Swarthmore College [2] and the honorary degree of Doctor of Science from Case Western Reserve University.

09: Mr. Abdul Khaleque Pathan

Mr. Abdul Khaleque Pathan, owner of Khaleque Group of Industries hails from Konabari, Gazipur, Dhaka. The Enterprises under the ownership of Khaleque Group are: Khaleque Knitting & Garments Industries Pvt Ltd., .Keya Cosmetics, Khaleque & Co, Bandhu Bricks, Keya Detergents Ltd.,Khaleque Trading House, Poly Advertising Firm, Keya Spinning, and Keya Sweater Ltd.

Early Life:

Mr. Khaleque was born on the 14th May, 1959 at Jarun, Konabari, Gazipurdistrict of Dhaka. His father was Mr. Abdul Pathan and Begum Alek jan was his mother. Abdul Khaleque Pathan started his education in the Hatimara High School from which in 1979, he passed the S.S.C examination. For financial reasons, he could not continue his studies. Mr Abdul Khaleque Pathan had early marriage around his twenties.

First Entry into Business:

Since boyhood, Abdul Khaleque Pathanhad entrepreneurial vision. After the school hours, when his classmates used to play in theevening, Abdul Khaleque Pathan would sell chocolates, cigarettes etc. from which trade he saved some money to buy chicken, ducks and goats. Abdul Khaleque Pathan then would buy chickens from one market at a lower price to sell the same in another market at a higher price. Thus, he earned some money and with that he along with one of his friends, started partnership business of chickens. His partner once sold all the chickens bought and kept in the partner’s house for resale without ABDUL KHALEQUE PATHAN’s knowledge but pretended that these were eaten up by foxes, late at night. But after some time, ABDUL KHALEQUE PATHAN came to know the truth and could realize that his partner deceived him with false information. This made him upset & aggrieved and thus the partnership was terminated and Abdul Khaleque Pathan lost all his savings that he invested in partnership business with his friend.

Hurdles faced and overcome Mr. ABDUL KHALEQUE PATHAN, when initially started his brickfields, some local people out of jealousy disturbed him very much. After wards, when he started Keya Soap Factory, one of his competitors filed suit against him.
He was taken to the custody to socially harass him. His competitors and personal enemies, in all, filed 12 suits; But ABDUL KHALEQUE PATHAN was proved innocent in the court of law. Interestingly, Abdul Khaleque Pathan filed not a single case against any such persons, or even in any way he tried to harass any of them. The fact is that Mr. ABDUL KHALEQUE PATHAN’s products are increasingly gaining markets compared to those of his competitors. He was never cruel to take revenge to his enemies rather all through nice to those local people who in various ways were previously hostile and harassed him in his initial days of business but later, whenever approached their wards were given suitable jobs in his firms without any hesitation.

Social Contribution Abdul Khaleque Pathan helped to promote a college in his locality named “Hatimara College� in which he donated Tk. 14 lacs to construct a college building. In Hatimara School in which Abdul Khaleque Pathan studied, here gladly contributes Tk. 10,000 per month as a part of the salaries for theteachers. Besides these, Abdul Khaleque Pathan donated Tk. 2 lacs of which Tk. 1 lac in cash and the another in bricks for the newly established Konabari College in addition to making regular monthly donation of Tk. 25 thousands towards payment for the salaries of the college teachers. Abdul Khaleque Pathan contributes Tk 5 thousand per month as regular donation to the Dhaka Allergy Hospital. From the income of the brickfields, Abdul Khaleque Pathan as a regular feature distributes Tk. 1 lac per month among the rural poor of the locality. He is known to have donated substantially in the development of a number of mosques, madrashas, and orphanages.

Recognition

Since 1996, Abdul Khaleque Pathan has been recognized as one of the Commercially Important Persons [CIP]. Mr. ABDUL KHALEQUE PATHAN, one of the reputed entrepreneurs in industrial sector for his excellent export performance, is awarded the National Export Trophy for the year 1996-97 by the government of Bangladesh.

10: Mr. Mozammel Houque

Mr. Mozammel Houque the Managing director of Bangas-Tallu Industry Group was a very poor man. He became Hero-from-Zero. How it is happened it describe in below:

Early life

Mr. Mozammel Houque is the eldest of the five issues of his parents with four sisters. They were very poor. His used to collect dry leaves from the forest with which his mother had to prepare daily food. Many days his family members had to remain unfed and starved, living in a dilapidated house, timely repair of which was not possible to be done for want of required amount of money. From this fact, one can imagine the level of poverty in which MH’s family had to fight to out to live really very hard days they had to cross in those days.

Education

He started his education in a village maqtab. He was quite brilliant student and that was why with stipends, he could continue his studies till the college level. If he did not get scholarship/stipend his student life would have been finished much earlier .MH as the only son of his parents, had to shoulder the burden of the family in the absence of his father. They had limited family properties, besides MH was then a unemployed young man. It was really difficult for the family to manage daily express.

Work life

After coming to Chuadanga, he joined as a distillery agent in the Keru and Co., a private company, at a salary of Tk. 67 per month. His work to mix water with sprite. The job was very easy but as the assignment given was unfair, MH was feeling uncomfortable. As a helper in the wine preparation process, MH was constantly suffering from moral sense that would keep him always in a depressed mood. At the time, for default of payment of land rent popularly known as (Khajna), many land auctions were conducted by munseef courts. In such an opportunity, MH purchased an area of land of 105 bighas with TK. 390 only. The land area MH bought was full of water hyacinth. At that time, he did not have enough money even to clean this low land. But afterwards that piece of land was instrumental to the upward change of MH to prosperity and social prestige. Luck favored MH in the year after he bought the land.In 1957, MH resigned from Keru & co. and sold 50 bighas of low land at Tk. 9000 of which he purchased a house with Tk.3000 and used the rest of money to set up a shoe store at Chuadanga Bazar.He became interested in contact business. But he had not enough money for the purpose. When he was able to secure a contact, the local rich person who promised to assist him financially declined to do so, possibly at the influence of some of the local bad people. Atthis, he was in utter financial crisis. But he did not leave the job that he got as a contract rather he started the initial foundation of the contracted building work with little saving that he made so long from his small shoe store.