Salman F Rahman

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).

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.

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.

Salman Fazlur Rahman and his older brother, Sohail Fasihur Rahman, started operating a family-owned jute factory in 1966.

Fazlur 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.

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 import medicines in exchange of the exports of 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 country's first private bank, the AB Bank.

In 1985, Salman Fazlur Rahman sold his stake to other partners.

Subsequently, the brothers bought 30% stake in IFIC Bank.

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 owned the English daily The Independent, which was launched on 26 March 1995 and closed down on 31 January 2022.

He was the Chairman of the Board of Editors of the Daily Independent.

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.

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).

Fazlur 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.

Fazlur 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.

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.