Salman F Rahman

Salman Fazlur Rahman (born 23 May 1951) is a Bangladeshi businessman, and a member of the Jatiya Sangsad. He is the Private Industry and Investment Adviser to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the rank of a cabinet minister. Earlier, he served as the private sector development affairs adviser to her. He was ranked 1685th on the list of billionaires in the world published by Beijing-based Hurun Gobal in 2017. He is the vice chairman of BEXIMCO Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Bangladesh. He was the president of several trade bodies including Association of Television Channel Owners (ATCO).

Early life
Salman Fazlur Rahman was born on 23 May 1951 to Fazlur Rahman and Syeda Fatina Rahman - an eminent Bengali Muslim family in Dohar, Dhaka District. His father, Fazlur Rahman, was a state minister of Pakistan. His mother, Syeda Fatina, was a descendant of the Dewan family of Haibatnagar from her father's side. Salman Fazlur Rahman is married to Syeda Rubaba Rahman and has a son named Ahmed Shayan Fazlur Rahman.

Rahman passed the Higher Secondary Examination from Notre Dame College, Dhaka and was admitted to the Physics Department of University of Dhaka in 1968. Later, he received graduation from Karachi University.

Career
Salman Fazlur Rahman and his older brother, Sohail Fasihur Rahman, started operating a family-owned jute factory in 1966. The government nationalized the factory in 1972. They established the Bangladesh Export and Import Company Limited (BEXIMCO Group) in 1972 and started exporting seafood and crushed bones to the European countries and importing medicines in exchange of the exported seafood and crushed bones. BEXIMCO Group is one of Bangladesh 's leading conglomerates with subsidiaries including BexTex, Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Beximco Pharma), and Shinepukur Ceramics. BEXIMCO employs more than 70,000 people worldwide and is the largest employer in the private sector in Bangladesh.

In 1976, the two brothers established Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Beximco Pharma). Later on, this company was listed as the first Bangladeshi company at the London's Alternative Investment Market. The company is listed in Aim of London Stock Exchange and also accredited by many foreign regulatory authorities including the US FDA for its export operations. In addition, it is the first Bangladeshi company to export medicines to Canada.

In 1982, the brothers partnered with the Dubai-based Galadari Brothers Group to establish the country's first private bank, the AB Bank. In 1985, Salman Fazlur Rahman sold his stake to other partners. Subsequently, the brothers bought a 30% stake in IFIC Bank. Fazlur Rahman became chairman of the bank in 2010 and was re-elected in 2016.

In 2021, BEXIMCO launched a BDT 3,000 crore Sukuk bond.

Salman Fazlur Rahman owns the Bangla News Channel Independent Television (Bangladesh). He owned the English daily The Independent, which was launched on 26 March 1995 and ceased publication on 31 January 2022. He was the Chairman of the Board of Editors of the Daily Independent.

Politics
Salman Fazlur Rahman entered politics in the mid-1990s and founded a political party under the banner Samriddhya Bangladesh Andolan. Later he joined the Bangladesh Awami League. He was the Bangladesh Awami League nominee from a constituency in Dhaka-1: Dohar Upazila in Bangladeshi general election in 2001.

Currently, Salman Fazlur Rahman is the Private Sector Development Adviser to President of Bangladesh Awami League and Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina.

Rahman contested from Dhaka-1 constituency (Dohar and Nawabganj Upazila) in the 2018 parliamentary election and received 3,04,797 votes from 178 centres of the constituency while the nearest rival Salma Islam received 38,017 votes. He contested the election with the Awami League's symbol boat and secured 86.5% of the votes of the constituency, consisting of the Dohar and Nawabganj upazilas.

Rahman got 1,49,971 votes under the Dhaka-1 constituency in January 2024 general election, reaffirming his strong support within the constituency. His closest competitor, Salma Islam from the Jatiyo Party, trailed behind with 34,746 votes.

Role as Prime Minister's advisor
Salman Fazlur Rahman was appointed as the private industry and investment advisor to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 15 January 2019. Without any financial incentives, the post retains the rank of minister. Fazlur Rahman was tasked by the Prime Minister to improve Bangladesh's standing on The World Bank's Ease of Doing Business index. Rahman's initiatives saw Bangladesh moving seven notches up in 2020. He also took initiatives on pursuing fast track programme while implementing projects under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) method.

Foreign direct investment
As the Prime Minister's adviser, Salman Fazlur Rahman from 2020 to 2022, helped the government agencies organize investment roadshows in the UAE, UK, USA, to increase the foreign direct investment inflow. He participated in programs home and abroad, and urged non-resident Bangladeshis to invest in the country's agriculture, healthcare and education sectors since the private sector is 90% of the total business in Bangladesh.

During NRB Professional Summit 2022, Rahman asked non-resident Bangladeshis to invest in the country's agriculture, healthcare and education sectors.

In 2022, after a meeting with Rahman, the United Kingdom's investment minister Lord Dominic Johnson expressed that British companies will be interested to explore the recycling industry of Bangladesh's Ready-made garment sector.

In November 2022, Rahman participated in Investment Flash Mob in Tokyo, Japan and urged Japanese businessmen to assist Bangladesh in intellectual infrastructure. He also met Singapore's Transport and Commerce Minister S Eswaran and discussed signing of a Free Trade Agreement between Bangladesh and Singapore.

Rahman attended Bangladesh-UAE Economic Cooperation seminar held in Abu Dhabi in September 2022 to promote trade and business opportunities of the country. He mentioned in his speech that he is now of the 'Asia's economic powerhouse'.

Foreign relations
In December 2022, Salman Fazlur Rahman met High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh, Pranay Kumar Verma and discussed signing a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

Board memberships and affiliations
Salman Fazlur Rahman is the vice-chairman of BEXIMCO Group.

He headed the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI) from 1994 to 1996.

He was a director of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission and Dhaka Stock Exchange.

He was the former president of Association of Television Channel Owners (ATCO) and LPG Operators Association of Bangladesh (LOAB).

He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Governor of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute and the sporting club Abahani Limited Dhaka.

Personal life
Salman Fazlur Rahman is from Dohar Upazila of Dhaka district. He is son of Fazlur Rahman and Syeda Fatina Rahman. His son Shayan Fazlur Rahman is also involved in the family business.

Controversies
A leaked diplomatic cable from United States ambassador in Dhaka in 2007, alleged that Fazlur Rahman is one of the biggest bank loan defaulters in Bangladesh. Rahman was arrested on 4 February 2007 on charges of crime and corruption in 11 cases during the 2006-08 Bangladeshi political crisis. On 20 August 2008, the High Court of Bangladesh granted him bail in the case of bank forgery. In the incident of 2010-11 share market scam, a probe body headed by Banker Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled also pointed their finger at Rahman's involvement. However, Rahman along with his elder brother was acquitted and the cases were quashed after final hearings in March 2015 since no evidence proved that they were guilty of stock market manipulation.