Conference Speakers

Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh
Minister for Finance

Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh was a Minister in Pakistan for six years (2001-2006), with a portfolio including Privatization and Investment. He has over 25 years experience in policymaking and management. His term as the Minister for Privatization & Investment has been the most successful in Pakistan’s history. 34 transactions worth Rs. 300 billion (USD 5 billion) were completed in a transparent fashion in banking, telecom, electricity and manufacturing. The period also saw a 500 percent increase in FDI from $1 billion to $ 5 billion per year.

Previously, he was Country Head of the World Bank in Saudi Arabia and also led assignments and advised more than 18 countries of Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa as a senior World Bank official. Some of these countries include Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Romania, Czech Republic, Argentina, Bangladesh, Jordan, Qatar, Malta, Botswana, Tanzania and Ghana.

During this time, he led teams in the successful privatization of various sectors in many countries, including the fields of telecommunication, electricity, transport, aviation, banking and manufacturing. Subsequently, he advised the governments of Iran, Kuwait, and Libya in privatization transactions and national economic strategy. He also set up the Watan Foundation to provide healthcare, drinking water and basic vocational training in the least developed parts of Pakistan.

Before joining the World Bank, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh worked at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He graduated from Boston University with a Degree in Economics 

Hussain Dawood
Chairman
Karachi Education Initiative/Karachi School for Business and Leadership,
Engro Corporation and
The Dawood Group

Mr. Hussain Dawood is Chairman of Dawood Hercules Chemicals Limited, Engro Corporation Limited, Karachi Education Initiative/Karachi School of Business and Leadership, and the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, the latter being the largest World Bank financed social fund in the world.

Mr. Dawood also serves as a member on the Boards of the Commonwealth Business Council, Pakistan Business Council, Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy, and Beaconhouse National University. He is on the Board of Trustees of Karachi Education Initiative UK and London, and Asia House, London. He is a Global Charter Member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) and the Honorary Consul of Italy in Lahore. The Italian government, in recognition of his contribution as the Honorary Consul of Italy in Lahore, conferred upon him the Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana on July 3 2008.

Mr. Dawood is the first Pakistani to become a member of the World Economic Forum in 1992. He is among the few people who attended the WEF Russia CEO Roundtable 2008. He has also attended the WEF Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, WEF Middle East at Sharm-el-Sheikh and the Dead Sea, and WEF Meetings in Malaysia and Singapore. He has participated in several international programs including the SAARC Business Leaders Conclave, New Delhi, the India Today Conclave, New Delhi, and the Dubai Strategy Forum.

Mr. Dawood is an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, USA, and a graduate in Metallurgy from Sheffield University, UK.

Arif Habib
Chairman
Arif Habib Group

Mr. Arif Habib is the Chairman & Chief Executive of Arif Habib Securities Limited a Company listed on Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad Stock Exchanges with equity of over Rs. 17 billion. He is also the Chairman of Arif Habib Bank Limited, Pakarab Fertilizers Limited, Fatima Fertilizer Company Limited, Thatta Cement Company Limited and Arif Habib DMCC Dubai.

Mr. Arif Habib has remained the President / Chairman of Karachi Stock Exchanges for six times in the past. He is the Founding Member and Former Chairman of the Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited. He has served as Member of the Privatization Commission, Board of Investment, Tariff Reforms Commission and Securities & Exchange Ordinance Review Committee. He is also a significant participant of welfare activities of different organizations.

Zia Imran
Managing Director
PSEB (Pakistan Software Export Board)

Zia Imran is the Managing Director of Pakistan Software Export Board. Previously he was the CEO of a software development company in Lahore. He also has been a past Chairman of P@SHA (Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT and IT enabled services). Imran has more than 16 years of experience helping companies of all sizes including Fortune 500 companies increase their operational effectiveness, re-engineer business process and translate operational and business strategy into working IT systems.

While at Oracle Consulting he worked with Fortune 500 companies leading Business Process Reengineering initiatives in Finance, Order Processing and Supply Chain Management. He also led a product management group at Oracle in their CRM group.  

He has experience working with industries as diverse as large scale industrial concerns, healthcare, software and semiconductors. Before joining PSEB, he taught a popular course in Entrepreneurship at FAST-NU Lahore business school. Imran has started hi-tech companies both in Silicon Valley and in Pakistan. His educational background includes an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship from University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business, a Masters in Computer Engineering from Cornell and a BSc in Electrical Engineering from UET, Lahore.

Dr. Asher Hasan
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Naya Jeevan

Dr. Asher Hasan is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of NAYA JEEVAN (http://www.njfk.org), a not-for-profit social enterprise dedicated to providing socioeconomically disadvantaged families throughout the emerging world with affordable access to quality, catastrophic healthcare.    

Dr. Hasan is a 2009 member of the Clinton Global Initiative, a TED Fellow and a Draper Richards Social Entrepreneur Fellow for 2009-2011 that is accompanied with a $300,000 award. In addition, NAYA JEEVAN is also the recipient of a $75,000 1st prize in the 2008 NYU Social Entrepreneurship Business Plan competition.              

Prior to launching NAYA JEEVAN, Dr. Hasan served in the capacity of Senior Director and Head of the US Medical Affairs Obesity team for Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. During his tenure in the biopharmaceutical industry, Dr. Hasan also completed a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

After migrating to the US, Dr, Hasan attended Oberlin College where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and biology with an additional concentration in international relations.
Subsequently, Dr. Hasan moved to Harvard Medical School where he worked as a preclinical researcher along with a group of vascular surgeons at Brigham & Women’s Hospital.

Graduating summa cum laude, Dr. Hasan went on to train in General Surgery at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.
In addition to his affiliation with the biotech/pharmaceutical industry in the US, Dr. Hasan is an active member of NAASO-The Obesity Society, the American Heart Association and the
American Diabetes Association. He also recently (2005-2006) served as a board member of the US National Business Group on Health: Institute on Cost & Effects of Obesity.

Badar Khushnood
Country Consultant Pakistan
Google Inc.

He is helping Google grow its market share and educate the Pakistani population about its innovative products. He is also responsible for establishing quality relationships with people/organizations of interest to Google Inc.        
Badar is a strong believer in cutting-edge technology. With an in-born passion for Information & Communication Technologies (ICT), Badar was previously Pakistan Sales & Marketing Manager for ASUSTeK Computers Inc where he was responsible for country marketing & business strategy and execution. He also holds the honor to be the 1st Project Director of Industrial Information Network (IIN) at SMEDA.

Badar secured his Masters in Economics & Management from the Lahore School of Economics (LSE) and undergrad from the Government College (GC), Lahore. He has extensive experience of working in multi-cultural, multi-stake-holder and public-private-donor partnership business models. During a decade of experience, Badar has won many hats and has various entrepreneurial initiatives to his credit. He has also represented Pakistan at various international forums and has traveled extensively across the globe.