Abdul Razak Dawood, is a Pakistani industrialist and was the Adviser for Commerce and Investment to the ex-Prime Minister

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

. He served as a former Federal Minister of Commerce, Industries & Production between 1999 and 2002 in the cabinet of

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...

. He is founder of Descon and an engaged member of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He had been also a member of the Imran Khan Cabinet as Advisor to PM for Commerce, Investment, Industries & Production and Textile.

Early life and education

After initial schooling in the UK Dawood studied and graduated in

Mining Engineering Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...

from the

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...

. In 1968 he obtained his Master degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He is a nephew of the late Seth

Ahmed Dawood Seth Ahmed Dawood (15 March 1899 – 2 January 2002) was a Pakistani industrialist and a philanthropist. Dawood founded several companies and The Dawood Foundation (TDF), which established the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (re ...

(1905–2002) who was considered one of the pioneering industrialists of Pakistan.

Career

He started his career in the family business at Lawrencepur Woolen and Textile Mills in 1968 and was then transferred to Dawood Hercules Chemical Limited to become the Managing Director from 1973 till 1981. In 1977 Dawood founded Descon Engineering (Pvt.) Limited. After his father and the siblings decided by the late 1970s and early 80s to part ways, he has been associated with it since 1981 till 2018 in the capacity of Managing Director (CEO) and as the

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

. Under his leadership Descon developed to perhaps the first Pakistani multinational company in Engineering, Construction, Chemicals, and the Power business. It is operating with four overseas manufacturing units and over 30.000 employees. Descon’s employees include over 30 nationalities working in the GCC, (including

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, Pakistan, in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. Dawood is also a former: * Director of the

State Bank of Pakistan The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) ( ur, ) is the Central Bank of Pakistan. Its Constitution, as originally laid down in the State Bank of Pakistan Order 1948, remained basically unchanged until 1 January 1974, when the bank was Nationalized and ...

. * Chairman of ''Rousch (Pakistan) Power Limited'' * Chairman of the

Pakistan Business Council The Pakistan Business Council (PBC) ( ur, ) is a business policy advocacy platform, established in 2005 by 14 of Pakistan's (now 68) largest private-sector businesses / conglomerates, including multinationals. It is a professionally run organi ...

, a business driven forum on economic policies.

Social Engagement

Razak Dawood has been deeply involved in education for many years, beginning when he became a visiting faculty member in 1975 till 1981 at the newly established MBA Programme at the

University of Punjab The University of the Punjab (Urdu, pnb, ), also referred to as Punjab University, is a public, research, coeducational higher education institution located in Lahore, Pakistan. Punjab University is the oldest public university in Pakistan. ...

. In the early 1980s he became one of the founders of the

Lahore University of Management Sciences Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) () is a private research university, located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. In 1983, Syed Babar Ali, a renowned businessman in Pakistan, recognized the shortage of qualified managers in the co ...

(LUMS) and has been the rector of the University from its inception. Currently he is a member of the board of trustees of the University. He was a former trustee for the first ten years of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital. The Bilquis and Abdul Razak Dawood (BARD) Foundation in Lahore is a venture undertaken Dawood and his wife to enable less fortunate individuals’ to realize their potential.BARD Foundation: Helping people in Ramazan, 11 May 2021, Business Recorder, online: https://www.brecorder.com/news/40091790

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawood, Abdul Razak Living people Commerce Ministers of Pakistan Pakistani industrialists Pakistani chief executives Columbia University alumni A Pakistani company founders Year of birth missing (living people) Pakistani people of Gujarati descent Memon people Pakistani mining engineers