Bashir Tahir born in

Bhera Bhera (; ) is a city and a tehsil of Sargodha District, Punjab province of Pakistan. The city is known for wood-carved items, textiles (such as quilts and khussas), and certain desserts (such as pheonian and pateesa). The city is made up ...

Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (, ) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. With a population of over 127 million, it is the Demographics of Pakistan, most populous province in Pakistan and the List of first-level administrative divisions by popu ...

was a prominent corporate figure in the banking, communication, and real estate sectors of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. He is the former CEO of Dhabi Group, a member of the Board of Wateen Telecom and board member and CEO of

Warid Telecom International Warid Telecom International () was an Emirati telecommunications company that was active in Bangladesh, Georgia, Congo, Pakistan, and Uganda before its divestment. Pakistan In 2004, Warid Telecom International LLC, purchased a license for oper ...

LLC. He is also the former CEO of the Abu Dhabi Group, which is a consortium of investors led by Dhabi Group as the lead investor, and a former Member of the Board Advisory Committee and Board Audit Committee for

Bank Alfalah Bank Alfalah Limited ( ), formerly known as Habib Credit and Exchange Bank, is a Pakistani commercial bank headquartered in Karachi. It is a subsidiary of an Emirati conglomerate, Abu Dhabi United Group. It is one of the largest private banks ...

Limited. Previously, Tahir served as general manager and CEO for

Union National Bank Union National Bank (UNB) was a bank based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from 1982 until it merged with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank in 2019. The bank had its shares listed in the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) under the symbol UNB. It ...

. He was until recently a board member of the Board of Investment of Pakistan.

Achievements

Mr. Tahir is a career banker since November 1962; with over forty years experience in finance and Mr. Tahir has over the past 12 years focused on advising and leading

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

and buyout ventures for the members of the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

royal family and their co-investors. Mr. Tahir is a pioneer for encouraging the collaboration of the various

family offices A family office is a privately held company that handles investment management and wealth management for a wealthy family, generally one with at least $50–100 million in investable assets, with the goal being to effectively grow and transfer w ...

of the ruling families in the region to help form what is now known as the Abu Dhabi Group. Under the Abu Dhabi Group consortium of investors, Mr. Tahir has been directly responsible for over US$3bn. worth of foreign direct investments into Pakistan's financial and telecommunications sectors. Mr. Tahir has advised on transactions worth US$500m overseas, and has actively led investments into Africa and the CIS, helping the Group to expand its presence into the banking and telecommunications sectors there.

Awards and recognition

Sitara-e-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially meritorious contribution to the ...

(Star of Distinction) Award by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

in 2006 in recognition of his contribution to Pakistan's banking sector. * ''Global Pakistani Award'' as acknowledgement of his services towards building stronger economic ties between the UAE and Pakistan.

Responsibilities

Dhabi Group and Abu Dhabi Group's investments include: Bank Alfalah,

United Bank Limited United Bank Limited (often abbreviated as UBL) is a Pakistani bank headquartered at I.I. Chundrigar Road in Karachi. It is a subsidiary of British multinational conglomerate, Bestway Group. Founded by Agha Hasan Abedi in 1959, UBL saw its firs ...

, Warid Telecom (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Republic of Congo, Uganda & Georgia), Wateen Telecom, KOR Standard Bank (Georgia), Raseen Technologies, Al Razi Healthcare, and other investments in the industrial, pharmaceutical and consumer staples sectors. Mr. Tahir represents the interests of Sheikh

Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan (; born 1951) is an Emirati royal and politician, who currently serves as the minister of tolerance of the United Arab Emirates. Al Nahyan previously served as the minister of culture and the minister of higher ...

through his board memberships as well as actively monitoring and advising the portfolio companies.

Investment Focus

Tahir helped the Dhabi Group to evolve from a family office engaged in primarily passive investments into a vehicle that acted as a lead investor for a consortium of investors known as the Abu Dhabi Group. The key focus areas became banking, telecommunications and real estate. Bashir Tahir was the first to promote and encourage this approach: to be a portfolio investor in a market whereby the country can benefit from inward foreign direct investment that directly helps to create jobs as well as to help attract new investors. This longer-term partnership defined the access and readiness of countries to encourage investment groups that could provide a source of multi-sector investment and help reduce volatilities through such long-term partnerships.

Achievements

Awards and recognition

Responsibilities

Investment Focus

References

External links