Asad Umar


Asad Umar is a Pakistani politician who has been the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since September 2013. He is currently serving as Federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives, in office since 19 November 2019.
He has previously served as Chairman House Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs from 8 May 2019 till 30 November 2019 and Finance, Revenue, and Economic Affairs Minister of Pakistan from 20 August 2018 to 18 April 2019. Prior to entering politics, he was a business executive, serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Engro Corporation from 2004 to 2012.

Early life and education

In an interview, Umar said he was born in Rawalpindi in 1961 and is the youngest of six brothers and one sister. After his father's retirement from military, he moved to Karachi along with his family. His father, Major General Ghulam Umar, was an army officer considered a close aide to General Yahya Khan. He is the youngest brother of Mohammad Zubair, who was 32nd Governor of Sindh.
Umar received a degree in Commerce at the Government College of Commerce & Economics.
Umar graduated from IBA Karachi in 1984 from where he received an MBA degree.

Professional career

He worked in HSBC Pakistan after graduation for seven months. He joined Exxon Chemical Pakistan in 1985 as a business analyst and was based in Canada. He was the only Pakistani employee of the company due to his father's diplomatic contacts. Umar came back to Pakistan to join Engro Corporation in 1985.
In 1997 was appointed the first CEO of Engro Polymer and Chemicals, the petrochemical company of the group. He became the President and CEO of Engro Corporation in 2004. In 2009, he was awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz for his public service.
He took an early retirement as president and CEO from Engro in April 2012 at the age of 50 with some reports suggesting that he may have been forced to do so.
Umar is being credited for turning a chemical company into a major conglomerate and is considered one of the most popular and highly paid CEOs in Pakistan. During his tenure as CEO of Engro Corporation, Umar was paid about US$6 million for the year 2011.

Political career

He joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in 2012 and was made Senior Vice President.
He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Constituency NA-48 as a candidate of PTI in by-election held in August 2013. He received 48,073 votes and defeated a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League and became an MNA. After Pakistan General Elections 2013, Asad served in the following Standing Committees of the National Assembly:
  • Standing Committee on Industries and Production.
  • Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat.
  • Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs.
In 2014, Lahore University of Management Sciences cancelled a scheduled speech of Umar due to being political in nature rather than educational.
He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PTI from Constituency NA-54 in 2018 Pakistani general election. He received 56,945 votes and defeated Anjum Aqeel Khan and again became an MNA. After Pakistan General Elections 2018, Asad is serving in the following Standing Committees of the National Assembly:
  • Special Committee on Agricultural Products.
  • Non-Ministerial Standing Committee on Business Advisory.
  • Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs.
Following his successful election, Umar was named as the potential candidate for the office of Minister for Finance, Revenue, and Economic Affairs. On 20 August 2018, he was sworn in as the Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Minister of Pakistan in the Federal Cabinet of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
On 18 September 2018, he presented amended finance bill for fiscal year 2018-2019 in the National Assembly.
On 11 October 2018, Umar held a meeting with Christine Lagarde, chair of the International Monetary Fund and formally applied for bailout package.
The same month news reports emerged that Prime Minister Imran Khan has expressed dissatisfaction and reservations over Umar's performance as Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs.
On 18 April 2019, he stepped down from the Finance Ministry.
From 8 May 2019 till 30 November 2019, Asad Umar was serving as the Chairman Standing Committee of the National Assembly of Pakistan for Finance, Revenue, and Economic Affairs. This is a key office as the chairman can ask the finance minister and his ministry regarding their performance. Moreover, the chairman can also give advice the finance minister and the finance ministry regarding their policies.
On 9 July 2019, Umar started working as the Member of Economic Advisory Council after the recommendations of Prime Minister Khan.
He is working as the Focal person for Supervision & Coordination amongst Government Agencies for All Mega Projects in Karachi funded by Federal government of Pakistan since 1 November 2019.
On 30 September 2019, news emerged that Imran khan will do a reshuffle, in cabinet and Umar would return in the cabinet.
On 19 November 2019, He was reinducted into Federal Cabinet and appointed as Federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives.
He is working as the Chairman of the cabinet committee on China–Pakistan Economic Corridor.
On 20 March 2020, he was appointed as the "Chairman of cabinet committee on Energy" replacing Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.
Asad Umar also Chairs the "National Command and Operations Centre " to deal with the COVID-19 in Pakistan.