Salman Fazlur Rahman is a Bangladeshi businessman who is also a member of the Jatiya Sangsad. He was ranked 1685th on the list of billionaires in the world published by Beijing-based Hurun Gobal in 2017. He is the current vice chairman of Beximco Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Bangladesh. Since 2009, he has been serving as the private sector development affairs adviser to the Bangladesh Awami League President Sheikh Hasina. Currently he is acting as the president of several trade bodies including Association of Television Channel Owners. In January 2019, he was appointed as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's adviser on private industry and investment.
Early life
Rahman was born in Dohar Upazila of Dhaka District to Fazlur Rahman and Syeda Fatina Rahman. He is married to Syeda Rubaba Rahman and has a son named Ahmed Shayan Fazlur Rahman. He graduated from the University of Karachi.
Career
In 1966, Rahman and his elder brother, Sohail Rahman started a business by running their family owned jute mill. The government nationalized the mill in 1971. They established the Bangladesh Export and Import Company Limited in 1972 and started exporting seafood and crushed bones to the European countries and import medicines in exchange of the exports of seafood and crushed bones. Beximco Group is one of the leading conglomerates in Bangladesh with subsidiaries including BexTex, Beximco Pharmaceuticals, and Shinepukur Ceramics. . 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 AB Bank. In 1985, he sold his stake to the other partners. Subsequently, the brothers bought 30% stake in IFIC Bank. Rahman became chairman of the bank in 2010 and was re-elected in 2016. Rahman owns the English Daily The Independent and the Bangla News Channel Independent Television. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Editors of theDaily Independent.
Politics
Rahman entered politics in the mid-1990s. He founded the political party 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, he 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 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 while Salma Islam contested with the symbol motor vehicle. He has secured 86.5% of the votes of the constituency, consisting of the Dohar and Nawabganj upazilas. Rahman was appointed as the private industry and investment advisor to the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 15 January 2019. The post holds status of a minister without any financial benefits.
A cable from United States ambassador in Dhaka leaked by WikiLeaks in 2007, alleged that 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. Rahman was also indicted in the case of stock market fraud in 1996 but in March 2015, the High Court in Dhaka quashed the two cases and ruled that the cases had no merits. Charge sheet was over-ridden in January 2018 during the second tenure of Bangladesh Awami League as the ruling party.
