New Pakistan PM: A Profile

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New Pakistan PM: A Profile

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Mohammedmian Soomro, who took oath as interim prime minister of Pakistan to lead the country till January election, hails from a renowned political family of Sindh that has been active in public life since 1923.

His father, late Ahmed Mian Soomro, was a seasoned parliamentarian, who was deputy speaker of the West Pakistan Assembly and a member of the Senate and had helped establish the Senate committee system.

Born on 19 August 1950, Soomro has three children. He secured a BSc degree with distinction from Forman Christian College, Lahore. He obtained the degree of MSc in Physics from the Punjab University, followed by MSc in Operations Management from Northrop University, USA.

An internationally recognized professional banker, Mohammedmian Soomro held various top positions, both at home and abroad, in national and international organizations such as Bank of America.

He has also been general manager and chief executive officer of International Bank of Yemen, Faysal Islamic Bank of Bahrain, Muslim Commercial Bank, Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan, Federal Bank of Cooperatives and National Bank of Pakistan.

He won wide recognition for his pre-eminent achievements during his time with these organizations. He was also instrumental in establishing the micro-credit banking in Pakistan.

Being, the head of the famous Soomro tribe, he is known for his strong interpersonal and leadership skills. He is well acquainted with national and socio-political and economic issues and has vast exposure to political life since his college days.

Soomro's role in public life started with his appointment as a governor of Sindh on May 25, 2000. During the tenure, he took a number of steps to bring about financial and administrative discipline, as well as to accelerate the pace of economic development in the province and bring about significant improvement in the quality of life of the general populace.

During his governorship, the people of Sindh witnessed stability and ethnic harmony. Merit, transparency and good governance were the hallmarks of his administration.

This was acknowledged even by the international donors, when under his leadership, the Sindh province became the first province in South Asia to be funded directly by the World Bank for restructuring programme.

He resigned from the office of Sindh governor on December 26, 2002 to contest the Senate election. He was elected as chairman of the Senate on March 12, 2003 for a three-year term.

Mohammedmian Soomro was re-elected Senate chairman on March 12, 2006 for the second consecutive term.

The following are the additional responsibilities held by Mohammedmian Soomro between 1997 and 2000 as director of boards:

• Shell Pakistan Ltd.
• Pakistan International Airlines Corporation.
• Pakistan Refinery Ltd. (Shell Petroleum Joint Venture)
• Pak Arab Refinery
• Pak Arab Fertilizer
• Bank Al-Jazira (Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)
• National Investment Trust: Open-ended mutual fund in Pakistan with directorships on nearly 90 per cent listed firms. 640 companies out of 730 companies on the stock exchange (with the directorships on 80 per cent of the companies on the Karachi Stock Exchange)
• Investment Corporation of Pakistan: Series of Mutual Funds
• National Discounting Services Ltd.
• National Exchange Company Abu Dhabi
• National Bank Modaraba Management Co. Ltd.
• First Women Bank Ltd.
• Consolidated Leasing Company
• Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation.

Other positions held by Mohammedmian Soomro included Chairman of the Pakistan Banks Association (1997-2000) (body of all banks), Member of Governing Council, Institute of Bankers Pakistan (IBP) (1997-2000).His family has been active in public life since 1930s and held several ministerial slots, speaker office and other key positions at various points of time.