Contributors

Born on 21 October 1950, Ambassador H.E. Abdullah Hussain Haroon completed his education from Karachi Grammar School and Karachi University. He began his early career in public service as Election Coordinator for Pakistan Muslim League in 1970. Later, he served as Councillor, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) through 1979-1985, remained Trustee Karachi Port Trust (KPT) 1980-1982, Member Sindh Provincial Assembly 1985-1988, Speaker, Provincial Assembly of Sindh 1985-1986 and leader of opposition, Sindh Assembly from 1986 to 1988. He also served as Consultant, Pakistan Herald Publication 1988-1989, delegate to UN General Assembly, Member to the Board of Governors, Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi 1996-1999, Director Board of Directors Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) 1997-1999, Chairman Griffith College Karachi 1999-2005 and President, Pakistan-China Business Forum from 1999 to 2004. He joined the post of Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations in New York on September 3, 2008.

Ali Farid Khwaja is a fund manager and financial economist. He has been a fund manager for Kudu Emerging Markets, a long hedge fund and an Equity Analyst at UBS. Ali is a graduate of Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Schoar.

In a long diplomatic career which culminated in senior Ambassadorial positions, Ali Sarwar Naqvi had assignments at the United Nations both in New York and Vienna, and stints in Washington D.C, London, Paris and Brussels. In the course of professional work, he has written articles on international affairs and delivered lectures and speeches on various current affairs issues in many institutions. He also supervised the publication of the official Foreign Affairs Journal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has also participated in TV debates and discussions on various national and international issues and questions. Having served as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and subsequently as Adviser to the Chairman Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, he is considered a prominent nuclear expert.

Ali Sultan is Director Financial Market Strategy & Conduct Department (FSCD). He holds a Masters Degree in Applied Mathematics along with several professional qualifications from international institutions. Prior to joining SBP, he worked with BNP Paribas Bank as Managing Director of Financial Institution Group covering the Middle Eastern countries based in Bahrain. He has also worked for Standard Chartered Bank (5 years each in Dubai & Karachi) in various capacities in the Global/Capital Markets such as Head of Global Investor Sales, Head of Institutional Sales and Head of Fixed Income Sales. Prior to SCB, he was Managing Partner at Shoaib Capital Limited and Chief Dealer Fixed Income & Foreign Exchange at Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari Company. During his career, he has also been associated with many financial market developmental projects in Pakistan led by IMF, MoF & SBP.

Arsalaan Ahmad Siddiqi is a  practitioner in Islamic banking & finance currently associated with Islamic Capital Partners (www.islamiccapitalpartners.com), a financial advisory practice focused on developing new institutions, private equity advisory/M&A, and training. He is available via email at [email protected]

Asad Farid is an economist at AKD Securities in Karachi. He is the author of the monthly AKD Economic Focus and the Fixed Income Weekly which highlights important macroeconomic issues especially those related to bond and currency markets. His views on the economy are widely quoted by both domestic newspapers and international newswires like Bloomberg and Reuters. Asad is particularly interested in the dynamics of the monetary policy and its implication for economic growth and inflation. Asad did his graduation from LUMS and is an enthusiastic football player.

Named as the International Health Professional of the Year 2007 by the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, Dr. Sania Nishtar is known best for her contributions to health policy and planning. With a rare combination of professional qualifications of a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and a Ph.D, Nishtar left a lucrative cardiologist’s career eight years ago to form the NGO think tank, Heartfile, which today is the most powerful health policy voice in Pakistan and recognised as a model for replication in other developing countries. Her areas of interests are health systems reform, and cross cutting issues of governance and public-private relationships in the social sector, reorienting priorities in health and global health. Her pioneering work in the health sector has inspired many new initiatives, and shaped policies on non-communicable diseases and health reform. Within the country, she sits on many boards, is part of many initiatives and provides strategic support to may agencies.
Internationally, her scope of work has several dimensions. She is currently a trustee of the Paris-based International Union for Health Promotion and member of the Board of Governors of the Geneva-based Alliance for Health Policy and Systems. She is also a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council, several high-level task forces of the World Health Organisation, WHO’s Global Expert Panel on Health Promotion, WHO DG’s Task Force on Financing and R&D, the Rockefeller Foundation/Brookings institute’s Expert Group on Private Sector in Health Systems and the Global Ministerial Leadership Initiative’s High Level Task Force. She has formerly been on several international Boards, and has chaired several global campaigns and programs. She has also been an advisor to WHO on numerous occasions, has published over 100 journal articles and is the author of four books; she speaks to audiences around the world and has been extensively published and quoted in the media. Sania Nishtar is the recipient of Pakistan’s Sitara-e-Imtiaz, the European Societies Population Science Award and 16 gold medals. A detailed profile can be accessed at http://www.sanianishtar.info

Ejaz Haider is the National Affairs Editor at Newsweek Pakistan. He has formerly served as the Op-Editor at The Daily Times and Consulting Editor at The Friday Times. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Foreign Policy Studies, The Brookings Institution (Nov 2002-Mr 2003) and also a Ford Scholar, Programme in Arms Control, Disarmament and International Security (ACDIS) at the University of Illinois.

Faridullah Khan is the Managing Director of the National Energy Conservation Centre (ENERCON). Prior to this, he was the National Project Director of the Decentralisation Support Programme. He is also Member, Federal Land Commission and Kashmir Council. He served as Joint Secretary to the Government of Pakistan for Population Welfare; Food & Agriculture; and Communication, Water & Power and Environment; between 1994-2004. Faridullah Khan has hosted and participated in a variety of trainings, both in Pakistan and abroad.
He has a Masters degree in Public Administration from Idaho State University, a Masters degree in Strategic Studies from the National Defence College, Islamabad and a Masters degree in Political Science from the University of Peshawar.

Hamad Aslam is Head of Research for BMA Capital, where he is responsible for developing BMA's stance on various listed sectors and maintaining BMA's house view on asset allocation and the firm's overall equity market strategy. His core expertise lies in Pakistan's energy chain companies, including Oil & Gas Exploration, Refineries, Oil Marketing and Independent Power Producers. He has been with BMA since 2006, and holds a B.Sc. (Hons.) degree in Accounting and Finance from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and completed his CFA examinations in 2009. His daily analysis can be read on www.bmatoday.com

Hasnain Rizvi manages high impact, mission-critical project portfolios for ESRI, a leading global software solutions provider. Prior to this, he spent several years in the insurance technology space spearheading efforts to create effective business process innovation for leading American insurance companies. Hasnain has a Ph.D. in e-Commerce from SCU, California. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), as well as a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and is currently pursuing an LLM in IT Law from the University of Strathclyde. During his spare time, he likes to read books on politics and comparative religion. Hasnain lives with his wife and two sons in Southern California.

Hizbullah Khan got his LLB Hons. degree from the University of Wales, and LLM from University College London. He worked in advertising in Saatchi & Saatchi, London and then started his first commodities export company from Lahore. Subsequently, he entered into property investment and then development in London and Dubai, on personal account and as an investment advisor. He lives in London presently and may be contacted at [email protected]

Ilona Yusuf spent her early childhood in England, where she was born. Later her family moved to Lahore, Pakistan, where she was educated. She is a published poet, and an editor for the Alhamra Literary review, a collection of writing by Pakistani and South Asian writers in English. She also designs lamps and furniture, both of which she likes to call 'conversation pieces' as they often incorporate the use of her photographs. Currently she is working on using her photographs to make prints, after learning solar printmaking techniques. She divides her time between Islamabad, Pakistan, and Scottsdale, Arizona. She is married with children.

Irshad Ullah-Khan  is a Rhodes Scholar and has served on the Dean’s Council of the John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; and is Advisory Professor of Tongji University, Shanghai.

Iskander Khan has held and continues to hold various important offices, including Chairman of the All Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, Chairman Pakistan Polypropylene Woven Sack Manufacturers Association, Chairman Synthetic Textile (Bags & Cordages), Director Pakistan State Oil (PSO) & Chairman Internal Audit Committee, Director Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd. & Chairman HR Committee, Director Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited and Director Islamabad Stock Exchange.
He is presently Business Director, Premier Group of Companies and is a qualified chartered accountant. He also holds an LLB degree.

Kalsoom Lakhani currently heads the social investment side of ML Resources, a private investment firm based in Washington, DC. The division funds capacity-building projects and partnerships based mainly in Pakistan. Kalsoom also founded and runs the Pakistani blog CHUP (or ‘Changing Up Pakistan’), which aims to raise awareness on the issues currently affecting Pakistan and break the black-and-white depiction of the country in the news media. Kalsoom received a Bachelors degree in Foreign Affairs and Middle East Studies from the University of Virginia, and a Masters degree in International Affairs/Conflict Resolution from the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs.

Born and now currently residing in Bombay, Kamil Hameed has a passion for writing and travelling. He has studied in New York and Florence and has also travelled extensively through South East Asia. He has worked in journalism for four years and is presently involved in the healthcare industry.

Kamran Rizvi has studied and worked in the UK for 20 years. In 1991, Kamran came to Pakistan and pioneered the self-improvement and organisation development movement under the banner of KZR. Over the years, KZR has spawned several organisations including the School of Leadership, which is focused on youth leadership and empowerment, and Navitus, a management consulting firm, working with corporates in the field of organisational development.

Khalid Mirza is Chairman of the Competition Commission of Pakistan. Prior to this, he was Sector Manager for Financial and Private Sector Development, East Asia and Pacific Region at the World Bank. He served one full term as Chairman of the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan from March 2000 to March 2003.

Khawar Ansari has over 32 years of experience. He started off in Europe as a microbiologist. He brought around 13 products from concept to launch, many of which are still being used. One of them also won the Prince of Wales Award for Innovation. He then started working in acquisitions and mergers for a company and he presented an acquisition to them which was rejected. Instead, the organisation that he was scrutinising asked him to help them write a business plan and offered him the position of Chief Executive consequently. He started that company and took it to the London stock market in five years. He came back to Pakistan in 1993 and started working as a management consultant and has, in the last 15 years, built up his management consultancy practice. He was also the Chairmain of Kashf Foundation and has been on the Boards of a couple of other esteemed organisations. Other than that, he has an interest in a film company, White Rice, which makes corporate films and animations on issues as well as organisations.

Laaleen Khan is a freelance writer and media strategist. Her background in TV production, marketing, and publishing has led to work projects in Islamabad, Lahore, New York and Britain. Laaleen holds graduate and undergraduate degrees from Clark University. She is addicted to costume dramas and plans to write and direct literary adaptations in the future, among other things.

Passionate about the written word, Maheen Usmani is a keen observer of life's ironies and its motley group of characters. Sorely lacking in ambition and sadly devoid of the killer instinct and the art of public relations, she has worn many hats including those of editor, writer, journalist, research fellow, media advisor, consultant and teacher.

Maria Khalid read her Masters in English Literature. She is a regular contributor to numerous online magazines, mainly to The Pedestal magazine. She has authored  various critical essays including on Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath. She has also written research papers on Deconstructionism and her latest paper is about Kamila Shamsie’s ‘lingual gymnasts’. She is also currently working on her first collection of short stories and learning French.