Archives: Board of Directors

Sami Ahmed is the Managing Director and CEO of Startup Bangladesh Limited (SBL), a flagship Venture Capital Company of Government of Bangladesh. Startup Bangladesh Limited invests in startups in the seed and growth stage and is also involved in policy formulation, supporting targeted and strategic impact investments for the Government, and in supporting the growth of the startup eco-system. Prior to joining Startup Bangladesh Limited, Mr. Ahmed was the Policy Advisor and team leader of the Leveraging ICT (LICT) Project of the Bangladesh Computer Council, ICT Division. Mr. Ahmed’s core responsibilities included Bangladesh IT-ITES Industry promotion and talent development. He has also played a vital role in many policy reforms for the ICT sector. He was the Executive Director of the Bangladesh Association for Software and Information Services (BASIS) and was instrumental in many policy reforms for the industry and in organizing key ICT events in the country. Mr. Ahmed also worked at the a2i Project where he was part of many national initiatives and played several roles including leading the Innovation team. Mr Ahmed has also worked in the private sector in various roles: as Chief Operating Officer, Head of MIS and as a startup co-founder.

Email: samiahmed@startupbangladeshvc.gov.bd

Mr. Arif Khan is at present the Vice Chairman of Shanta Asset Management. Mr. Khan has played a pivotal role in the field of finance both in public and private sector of Bangladesh and has over 30 years of experience in the financial sectors of Bangladesh.

Prior to joining Shanta Group, he was the Managing Director and Chief Executive of IDLC Finance, where he previously served for 15 years and held key positions, including the role of the deputy managing director. Before joining IDLC as the MD and CEO, Mr. Khan served Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) as a commissioner. During his stint with BSEC he pioneered several reforming initiatives as a capital market regulator under guidance of Honorable Chairman and Ministry of Finance including Stock Exchanges Demutualization, Corporate Governance Code for Publicly Listed Companies, Public Issue Rules, Listing Regulations, Equity Research Rules and many more.

Mr. Khan graduated in Finance and Banking from the University of Dhaka and later completed his MBA from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA). He was the president of Institute of Cost & Management Accountants of Bangladesh and is the founding President of Bangladesh Merchant Bankers’ Association (BMBA) and CFA society, Bangladesh.

Mr. Hafiz Ahmed Chowdhury, at present, Additional Secretary (Drafting) (Current Charge), Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.

He passed SSC from Nawabpur Government High School, Dhaka; HSC from Dhaka College and LL.B (Honors) and LL.M from University of Dhaka successfully. He was also Awarded M.Phil.  from Islamic University, Kushtia and PhD from University of Dhaka. He was enrolled as an Advocate of the District Court and the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on 16 August, 1994 and 07 March, 1996 respectively. He practiced as an Advocate from 16 August, 1994 to 19 January, 2000 in the District Courts of Bangladesh and the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh respectively.

Later on 20 January, 2000 he joined in the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs as an Assistant Secretary (Drafting) and started his career in the profession of Legislative Drafting. He was later promoted to Senior Assistant Secretary (Drafting), Deputy Secretary (Drafting) and Joint Secretary (Drafting) in the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division of Ministry of Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs. He has been serving as an Additional Secretary (Drafting) (Current Charge) in the Legislative & Parliamentary Affairs Division of the same Ministry from June 27, 2021 till date.

While in service, he has received various short-term and long-term trainings at home and abroad. He has traveled to UK, Canada, Singapore, India, Nepal, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, France, Finland, Philippines, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Germany.

In his long service career Mr. Hafiz has participated actively in different meetings, workshops, seminars; regional, bi-lateral and multilateral meetings on different negotiations in the country and abroad.

He attended as a member of delegation of 70^th Session of the Committee on the Child Rights held in Geneva, Switzerland on 15-16 September, 2015 for Consideration of CRC reports submitted by Bangladesh (5^th Periodic reports).  He also attended as a member of delegation of 51^st Session of the Committee on the Child Rights held in Geneva, Switzerland on June 3, 2009 for Consideration of CRC reports submitted by Bangladesh (3^rd and 4^th Periodic reports).

In his personal life he is married and blessed with two daughters. His vision is to serve the nation.  His favourite hobby is reading books and papers.

Mr. Shish Haider Chowdhury, ndc, MCIPS Joined Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as the Secretary on 15 September 2024. Prior to that, he was an Additional Secretary worked as Member (International Cooperation) in the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission under Ministry of Commerce. Mr. Shish Haider Chowdhury is a member of the Bangladesh Civil Service 9^th batch Audit and Accounts Cadre joined in the Service in 26 January 1991. Mr. Chowdhury is an accomplished professional with about 32 years career in various fields combining Public Financial Management, Public Procurement, Project Management, International Cooperation, Trade Facilitation, International Development, WTO matters, and Inter-governmental issues. In his long career, he was posted in different important appointments since beginning namely, Joint Secretary, MOPA; Ministry of Public Administration (MOPA); Director (Joint Secretary), CPTU, IMED; Deputy Secretary, Finance Division; Deputy Secretary, MOPA; Additional CGA (Admin); Director, FAPAD; Finance Controller (Army); Deputy Project Director of IDA TA Project, Economic Relations Division (ERD) etc. Mr. Chowdhury also served in the International Jute Organisation (IJO) a UN affiliated intergovernmental body during 1997- 2002 on lien.

Mr. Shish Haider Chowdhury did his Honours and Masters in Accounting from the Department of Accounting and Information Systems of Dhaka University. After that he did Masters in Business Administration (MBA) major in Finance from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) of Dhaka University. He got his third Masters in Public Economic Management and Finance from the University of Birmingham of the United Kingdom under DFID Funding. He is undergoing his PhD with area of concentration “External Oversight and Public Financial Management” in Bangladesh University of Professional (BUP). He has obtained his professional degree MCIPS from the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply of the United Kingdom. He did his National Defence Course (NDC) from the National Defence College, the most prestigious Institute of the Armed Forces, with national and international participants. During his extensive professional career, he participated in numerous training programs covering in the areas of Development Administration (DAM, ACAD, SSC and PPMC), Public Finance, Public Procurement, iBAS++, e-GP, Project Management, ICT issues, Trade and Development etc. in Bangladesh, India, UK, USA, Ireland, Netherlands, Italy, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Mauritius etc.

With the prior approval of the Government, Mr. Chowdhury has been teaching in the IBA of Jahangir Nagar University as an adjunct faculty for the last 31 years. He is a professionally qualified public procurement expert and a certified national procurement trainer. He is also professional trainer of public financial management, supply chain management and project management. He has been covering almost all the training academies of the country as a resource person. He has got a number of publications in the national and international peer reviewed journals in the areas of public financial management, supply chain management, aid management and public procurement. Mr. Chowdhury travelled numerous numbers of countries of the world to attend meetings, conferences, workshops, seminars and other official businesses.

Mr. Shish Haider Chowdhury is happily married, and is the proud father of two sons and a daughter.