Ashik Chowdhury

Last updated
Ashik Chowdhury
আশিক চৌধুরী
aashik caudhurii, 2025.png
Chowdhury in 2025
Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority
Assumed office
1 November 2024
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]

Contents

Early life

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]

Career

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]

Personal life

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]

References

  1. "Ashik Chowdhury appointed BIDA executive chairman". United News of Bangladesh . 12 September 2024. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Ashik Chowdhury appointed executive chairman of BIDA". Bdnews24.com . Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Ashik Chowdhury". LinkedIn . Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun". Bangladesh Investment Development Authority . Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  5. "British Council honour the success of UK Alumni in Bangladesh". British Council Bangladesh . Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  6. 'ড. ইউনূসের ৫৯ সেকেন্ডের কলেই আয়েশি জীবন ছেড়ে আসি'. Daily Jugantor . 9 April 2025.
  7. "Sarwar Bari appointed new BEZA executive chairman". The Business Standard . 4 July 2024. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  8. "Bida chairman gets state minister status". The Business Standard . 7 April 2025. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
  9. "BIDA executive chairman Ashik Chy gets state minister status". The Daily Observer (Bangladesh) . 7 April 2025. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
  10. "Ashik Chowdhury makes record-breaking jump from 41,000ft". Dhaka Tribune . 26 May 2024. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  11. Anika, Ayman (26 May 2024). "Ashik Chowdhury's record skydive from 41,000 feet!". The Daily Star (Bangladesh) . Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  12. Mia, Sozib (28 May 2024). "Ashik jumps off plane with national flag". Prothom Alo . Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  13. "Ashik Chowdhury, a professional skydiver, posing with the Bangladesh flag". The Financial Express (Bangladesh) . Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  14. "UCB to sponsor Ashik Chowdhury in his attempt to make Guinness World Record by jumping from 41,000 feet". The Business Standard . 21 May 2024. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  15. "Greatest distance freefall with a banner/flag". Guinness World Records Limited . Retrieved 1 November 2024.