Ashik Chowdhury | |
---|---|
আশিক চৌধুরী | |
![]() Chowdhury in 2025 | |
Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority | |
Assumed office 1 November 2024 | |
Chief Adviser | Muhammad Yunus |
Preceded by | Lokman Hossain Miah |
Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority | |
Assumed office 12 September 2024 | |
Chief Adviser | Muhammad Yunus |
Preceded by | Md Sarwar Bari |
Personal details | |
Born | Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun Chandpur,Bangladesh |
Spouse | Nabila Jabeen Khan |
Education | Sylhet Cadet College,Dhaka Residential Model College |
Alma mater | |
Profession | Chartered Financial Analyst |
Ashik Chowdhury (born as Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun) is a Bangladeshi economist, banker and chartered financial analyst who has been the executive chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority and Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority since 2024. [1]
Chowdhury was born in Chandpur and was raised in Jessore due to his fathers posting. [2] He studied at Sylhet Cadet College and he is an ex-cadet of 21st batch of the institution. He did his Bachelor of Business Administration from Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka. [3] [4] He did his Master's in Finance from London Business School. [3] [4] He is a Chartered Financial Analyst. [4]
Chowdhury started his career as a Territory Officer of the British American Tobacco in February 2007. [3] [2] He joined Standard Chartered Bank in August 2007 and worked there till March 2011 as a manager in the Lending Strategy and Financial Planning Division. [3] [2] He co-founded The Bench, the first sports bar in Bangladesh. [3]
Chowdhury joined American Airlines in London in October 2012 as a financial and strategic analyst and left in May 2019 as the Head of Finance, Europe and Asia. [3] He was a visiting professor at the Bangladesh University of Professionals. [3] [2] He was an advisor of Grameen Telecom Trust. [3] He joined HSBC Bangladesh before moving onto HSBC Singapore. [3] He was awarded the Professional Achievement Award by British Council Bangladesh. [5] He was the Associate Director of Infrastructure Finance Investment Banking in October 2024 when he left the post. [3]
Chowdhury was residing in Singapore when the July Revolution happened and the interim government was formed. He said that Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus had called him, saying, "Ashik, got a chance to serve the country, wanna come?" [6] Upon the call, Chowdhury returned to Bangladesh. In September 2024, he was appointed Executive Chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority replacing Lokman Hossain Miah. [2] He was also appointed Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority replacing Md Sarwar Bari who was appointed in July 2024. [2] [7] On 7 April 2025, he was granted minister of state status. [8] [9]
Chowdhury is married to Nabila Jabeen Khan. The couple has two children, a son and a daughter.
Chowdhury is an avid skydiver. [2] [10] In Memphis, he jumped from 41,795 feet with a flag of Bangladesh. [11] [12] [13] He was sponsored by United Commercial Bank PLC. [14] He was awarded the Greatest Distance Freefall with a Banner or Flag record by Guinness World Records. [15] He also holds a private pilot license in Bangladesh. [4]