Syed Babar Ali

Early life and family

Syed Babar Ali was born on 30 June 1926, to a businessman, Syed Maratib Ali, in Lahore, Pakistan. His father owned shops in the Walled City of Lahore and was a top contractor of the British Indian Army supplying them with services like logistics and all sorts of items used in regiments. The money was used to invest in land. On his maternal side, his grandmother was a member of the Afghan royal family. He had three brothers, namely Syed Amjad Ali, Syed Wajid Ali, and Syed Azfal Ali. He also had 5 sisters, namely Baji Surraya (eldest sibling), Baji Fakhra, Baji Gullo (who died before she was five), Baji Kishwar, and Baji Sarwat. His family practices Shia Islam.

He received his education from Aitchison College, Lahore. He graduated from Government College, Lahore; for further studies he went to the University of Michigan till 1947, when he moved to newly-created state of Pakistan. He completed his graduation from University of the Punjab, Lahore. He also briefly studied at Harvard School of Business which helped him later founding business school.

Career

In the 1970s, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's nationalization affected five out of his six companies, leaving only Packages Limited. He served as the First and Founder Chairman of National Fertilizer Corporation of Pakistan (NFC) from 1973 until 1980, helping to set up the country's first ever fertilizer company. He did not draw any salary during his tenure as Chairman NFC.

In October 1970, Mr. Ali co-founded Lahore Stock Exchange and served as Director of first Board of the company.

Ali is the Chairman of Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Limited, Siemens Pakistan Engineering Company Limited, and Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan Limited. He believes in the joint venture philosophy and most of his businesses are joint ventures with major multinationals.

In 1992, he founded 'Ali Institute of Education' for training of primary and secondary school teachers. He served as the Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs & Planning in the caretaker setup in 1993.

Ali promoted the cause of the World Wide Fund for Nature where he served in various positions, both in Pakistan and internationally, from 1972 to 1996. He was the International President of WWF from 1996 to 1999 succeeding Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Awards

Ali received honours and awards from the Government of Sweden, the Government of Netherlands, an Order of the British Empire from Britain (1997), and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree of Laws from McGill University, Montreal, Canada (1997).

References

References

1. (17 March 1997). "Syed Amjad Ali, 89, of Pakistan, Envoy to Washington and U.N.". [[The New York Times]].
2. (19 December 2009). "One Pakistani Institution Places His Faith in Another".
3. Raza, Ahsan. (22 February 2016). "A man who loves to 'learn from others'". Dawn (newspaper).
4. Business History Initiative. "Syed Babar Ali - Creating Emerging Markets". Harvard Business School.
5. Ali, S. Babar. (7 September 2017). "Learning From Others - Autobiography by Syed Babar Ali". Topical Printers, Lahore.
6. Abbas, Waseem. (November 4, 2022). "Syed Babar Ali: A Pakistani Icon".
7. Hayat, Usman. (25 December 2017). "Why Pakistanis do not love finance ministers". Dawn (newspaper).
8. (2 June 2017). "Syed Babar Ali receives award from Prince Philip". Daily Times (newspaper).
9. "Syed Babar Ali profile".