1. Let’s start with a brief introduction to your heritage, childhood, and education.

I was born and brought up in Dhaka, originally from Lalbagh. Looking back at my ancestry, both paternal and maternal families hail from Old Dhaka, so that makes me a proud, pure bred Dhakaiya. I am blessed to be born into a very humble family with six siblings- all involved in the family business, in different capacities. My father, Mr. Anwar Hossain was a charismatic and visionary business person who introduced various products for the first time in Bangladesh. He didn’t believe in luck rather in hard work, opportunity and timing to be in his favour. He looked for simple solutions to big problems and was in love with manufacturing. His goal in life was to help people out of poverty by creating employment. Starting back in the 1950’s, he initiated the first saree brand – Mala Saree, Sunshine electric cable & wires, Manwar Cutleries, Manwar Fan and many more products manufactured in Bangladesh. The City bank, which was among the first private commercial banks in Bangladesh was also initiated by my father. We grew up seeing his faith in Allah, his acumen, dedication, love for his mother, respect for people, and honesty at work. He meant the world to us and we try to emulate him every day. My mother – Bibi Amena, remains the cornerstone of our father’s success. She helped him at work, and was a key person in producing Mala Saree, but more so, she loved being a caring mother and loving homemaker. My mother is the center of the universe for us.

In terms of education, I started my schooling from Sunflower school, then Udayan, and finally Maple Leaf from Kindergarten till A’Levels. After completing my A-Levels, I pursued my higher education in the United States, where I did my Bachelor’s in Accounting and Master’s in International Banking.

During my undergraduate, I also worked at various jobs on and off campus. One thing our parents always encouraged us is to live our lives on our own and understand the depth of reality. My father never wanted us to live a life depending on him. Hence, he would always put us on a tight budget to teach us the value of life and money. Anything beyond tuition fees and housing was to be managed completely on our own. He always encouraged us to work and keep our feet on the ground.

I worked as a supervisor at the University Student Union, a carpet cleaner, library attendant, and various other jobs to support myself. By the grace of the Almighty, I realised how my father’s lessons were so essential for me to understand and value every bit of blessings in life. This has made me a practical individual and helped me become what I am today.

2. Shed some light into the initial journey of your career.

After completing my BBA in Accounting, I returned to Bangladesh and started working at HSBC Bangladesh as an intern during the year 1997 for almost a year. I was so fascinated by the banking operations that I decided to pursue my post-graduation in Banking. I went back to the United States to pursue my MBA in International Banking after which I worked for Merrill Lynch for over a year. That’s when my father asked me to return to Bangladesh as he felt I had more to contribute to the company and our nation. I returned to Bangladesh in the year 2000 and took responsibility of a part of our family business.

Back in 1997-1998, when I was working for HSBC, I also started working on my first independent project which was a Jute mill. I worked on its entire aspect, starting from preparing its feasibility report to execution. Upon return to Bangladesh during the year 2000, my father gave responsibility of the Jute Mill to me, and by the grace of the Almighty, we made our place among the top 3 in Bangladesh in a short span of time. Since then, I got involved in several other businesses – IT, automobiles, and real estate are just some of them.

I also got involved with trade advocacy and have been closely involved with the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) from the year 2000. At the age of 26, I was elected as the Vice President of DCCI. Consecutively served as VP, SVP, and later elected as the President of DCCI at the age of 33- and till date remain the youngest President of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry. By the grace of the Almighty, I have been elected president 4 times and being the youngest, had the advantage of continuing to serve and contribute towards the development of our private sector. I enjoyed this role and responsibility so much that I would have loved to pursue being a trade advocate as a profession.

In business, we either get involved as an employee or a stakeholder. But being able to contribute at a massive scale, to present at such a scope, is an opportunity I am grateful that I had. The opportunity of leading the organization at such a young age paved the path for other young individuals to take up this role afterward and make a significant impact that benefitted the industry. If you look at the DCCI today, not only on the board but also in the working committees, you’ll find inclusion of a lot of young entrepreneurs and professionals and that really fills my heart with joy that I was able to leave some impact in the last 20 years. The only thing that will matter is what legacy we are leaving behind.

Learning to grow is an integral part of our life’s journey and it’s no different at work. I strive to learn everyday and from everyone, especially from the young entrepreneurs of their fearless approach to taking risks. I was fortunate enough to bring some young entrepreneurs together to form the Bangladesh Chapter of Entrepreneurs Organization, and act as its founding President.

3. How did your passion for business start? What are your involvements with Anwar Group and its existing wings?

Business and entrepreneurship is in our blood. We are the fourth generation in our family business, and the fifth generation has already joined the leadership. It is a mandate that all family members must work in external companies before joining the family business to gather knowledge and expertise that we can bring back, adapt, and implement in our organizations. So, joining the business just didn’t happen coincidentally, it was destiny. It is not only a passion, it is our way of life…it is our lifeline. I can only hope and pray that we create a better path for the next generation of our family members and of our employees to join the ANWARS family for generations to come.

Under the visionary prowess of our late father and the Founding Chairman of ANWAR GROUP – Mr. Anwar Hossain, the Group is presently led by us three brothers. Manwar Hossain, current Group Chairman and also leading the Building Materials Division; Hossain Mehmood – leading the Textile Division; and I, Hossain Khaled – leading Real Estate, Infrastructure Construction, Jute, and Automobile division. Our fourth division is our strategic investment and involvement in Financial Services industry, namely – the City Bank, City Insurance, Bangladesh Finance, and Modhumoti Bank. By virtue of our investments, I have been on the board of City Bank for a while, and this is my second term being elected as Vice-Chairman. Additionally, I am also the Chairman of City Brokerage and City Bank Hong Kong, which are subsidiaries of City Bank. I must reiterate that my passion for cars drove me to introduce car brands – FORD, JEEP, ALFA ROMEO, and VOLVO to Bangladesh; because our automobile enthusiasts deserve more than just the ordinary.

4. What goal do you want to accomplish at The City Bank in your current tenure?

City Bank’s transformation during the last two decades have been evident in becoming a Financial Supermarket in the Country. We are not only a leading corporate financing Bank, but have moved very aggressively in SME, Retail, Cards, and now Islamic financing. Soon enough, we are working to be the best digital financial service institution. The Chairman, Vice-chairman, and the Board of Directors are there to share their visions and help establish objectives. We have a very professional management team who ensure the profitability to our shareholders. Moreover, we strive to be pioneers in introducing new products in the market which other competitors can hardly perceive.

The network and customer base we have been able to establish since our inception in 1983 gives us a lot of advantage and we no longer want to be a bank which is only operating in domestic bandwidth. Due to the scope and opportunities of our growth and prospect, shareholding of City Bank is no longer limited to Bangladeshi investors – IFC is now the single largest foreign institutional shareholder (5%), and other foreign investors holding about 4%.

5. Tell us about the opportunities or challenges you are seeing in the textile, automobile, and real estate industries?

Textile is one of the core industries of Bangladesh, and has played a very important role in driving employment, import substitution, exports, deemed exports, local consumption, backward linkage to RMG, and several other offshoot industries. Textile industry remains an engine of economic growth-contributing 13% to the country’s GDP. It is expected to deepen its roots further to substitute all imported textiles, and diversify products and markets. Collectively the textile industry needs to invest in R&D, nanotechnology, skill development, and requires very aggressive and forward-looking policy support from the Government to remain competitive and grow its global market share- most importantly adapt to sustainable production methodology and technology. ANWAR GROUP has played a significant role in the growth of textile industry of the country. ANWAR SILK MILLS was the first textile mill in East Pakistan owned by a Bengali – my father, Mr. Anwar Hossain. This division still remains at the core of our organization and is headed by my older brother – Mr. Hossain Mehmood.

Real Estate is presently an $8 Billion industry in Bangladesh, and is only the tip of the iceberg. Real Estate as a whole – directly and indirectly comprises of 300+ industries (from bricks to furniture to electronics) and employs more than 3 million people-delivering 10,000 apartments (units) annually, and contributes 15% to the GDP. A home is a fundamental need of any family and investment has always been secure. With increasing purchasing power of individuals, every family will want to live in their own home. Dhaka and Chittagong being the center of economic activities contributes heavily towards this demand. However, with these cities expanding and improved logistics with highways, railway, and MRT connectivity; major real estate companies are now investing in mega housing projects in these new townships or on the outskirts of the major cities. This will undoubtedly help bring pricing of homes within a more affordable range to a wider group of consumers. Additionally, with other major cities of the country developing as upcoming economic centres it will also expand in terms of supply and demand of apartments. However, regulators must continue to improve and develop the building and construction codes to stay at par with global best practices yet carefully adapting to the local environment, topography, and ecological requirements. A significant change or evolution is also needed in the Home and Commercial Loans. Keeping in mind that for an individual to be able to afford a home, it must remain below 35% of their monthly income, and hence a much longer term home loan financing is required as opposed to the present 10 to 25 years scheme. We can look into home loan policies of US, Canada, or even India. Additionally, in order to support such long term financing, we can also study the opportunity of a Real Estate Bond. ANWAR LANDMARK is spearheading this industry and catering to all segments of the market but presently focused in Dhaka – ranging in different housing markets whether it’s Nawabpur, Dhanmondi to Mirpur, or from Uttara, Bashundhara to Gulshan and of course Motijheel. Additionally, we are also involved in the construction of heavy infrastructures – roads, bridges, culverts, water treatment plants, commercial buildings, and IT parks.

Automobile or Automotive is an industry that I am very passionate about, not only because of my love for cars but its history, heritage, and contributions in the assembly and manufacturing industry over the last 100+ years. Automotive (commercial, passenger, and parts) at the current time is also a billion-dollar industry in Bangladesh, but still dependent very heavily on imports. As a light engineering industry, it has a lot of potential for parts manufacturers to find Bangladesh as the next destination to reduce costs of production, availability of blue-collar engineers, and take advantage of the export benefits. Bangladesh has the potential to be the next Thailand in Asia. While assembling vehicles is a good beginning, but similar to RMG and Textile, unless backward linkage, that is, if parts are not produced domestically, we will not be able to add much value.

Coincidentally, as we speak, we are celebrating our 13 year anniversary of the beginning of our journey with Ford Motor Company. We inaugurated our first 3S FORD Dealership on August 1st, 2009 by AG Automobiles. Since then, our automobile division has added VOLVO Cars, PEUGEOT, JEEP, and soon to launch ALFA ROMEO. We also have two full service workshops in Uttara and Tejgaon, with 24/7 Mobile Workshop, and nationwide service and parts distribution affiliates from Teknaf to Tetulia; with one mission – ‘to leave customers satisfied at every touch point by employees who are more than happy to serve.’ Our goal is to establish a small economic hub to assemble some of the cars we represent in Bangladesh, and aim to add at least 60% in local value addition. Alternative fuel is the future of automobile and Bangladesh needs to adapt to it earlier than later. Progressive Policy support, infrastructure support for EV charging stations, hydrogen fuel cell, lithium battery disposal and recycling are some of the most import components for success of this industry.

6. Share your thoughts on the entrepreneurship opportunities in our country and what will be your suggestions for young entrepreneurs for the upcoming days?

Although recently we use new terminologies, entrepreneurship is not new to our people. People in Bangladesh, in general, have been very resilient and enterprising. We have grown to face so many difficulties in life, that it has become our second nature to find alternate solutions, instead of waiting for a miracle.

Our government has created new scopes and allotted huge funding for the new entrepreneurs and startups. We did not have such scopes and neither did the previous generation. If you only look at the IT industry, people are earning significantly by freelancing. As there are various freelancing opportunities, they are getting to work on platforms like e-commerce, graphics design, digital industry, and F-commerce.

One thing that fascinates me the most is that the current generation is taking a lot of interest in Agrotech and Agriculture. That is very important because of our rapidly increasing population. It is predicted that our population will be around 20 crores within 2040, so we must remain self-sufficient and to assure that, Agrotech is very important. I highly encourage the young generation to invest their effort and innovation in biotech, healthcare, agriculture, and technology revolving around these sectors. They have to be creative and address the problems and find simple solutions that create significant impact.

7. How would you define your leadership method?

Whether it be a business or a journey we are embarking on, the first thing is to believe in it. Be passionate about it and that will derive our customers and employees’ loyalty, which will lead us to profitability. There is a fine line between profit and profitability. Profit may not be sustainable, but profitability is. As a team leader, regardless of which team you are leading they should be able to understand profitability, sustainable growth, and sustainable profits.

In terms of management style, I prefer to be a team leader where we have an open-door policy for all our people whether it be our factory workers or senior management. I try to help them in every possible way and work together towards achieving the goals yet not get involved in micro-management. Because when they achieve their given goals, collectively as a team leader- I achieve mine.

8. What aspect of Innovation do you expect to see in the upcoming days, and do you find anything interesting yet?

Recent developments in fintech, biotechnology, health technology, inclusion and use of artificial intelligence in the manufacturing, service, logistics, trade, and retail industry fascinates me. Use of small data and big data to predict consumer habits is intriguing. And I have a strong feeling given the nature of our demography, this will derive a lot of success for techprenuers in Bangladesh. I come across a lot of promising talent in the IT sector, who are making our life a lot easier with simple solutions. We can already see that the IT sector is growing at a good pace and I believe this is only the tip of the iceberg for this industry to grow.

9. Besides being a businessman, in what ways are you contributing to the welfare of society?

I personally believe, every individual is sent to this world with a purpose. With the privilege myself and my family are bestowed with, I am of the opinion that creating sustainable jobs would be our biggest contribution to society. Following the narrative of my father, it has always been my priority to create employment opportunities and help the people of Bangladesh. Donations and CSR are always there and always will be, but creating employment creates a much bigger and positive impact. Our endowments are always constructively focused mainly towards education and healthcare of the needy.

10. What are your hobbies and how do you spend your leisure?

I have a fascination for cars just like my father, but compared to him, I am more attached to them emotionally. I am an avid die-cast car collector, I love listening to most kinds of music (depending on the mood), I love DC Comic superheroes – Batman and Superman. Football, Basketball, Formula1, Boxing, and Cricket are sports that I particularly enjoy. Mohammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Michael Schumacher, and Cristiano Ronaldo are among some of the sportsmen who intrigue me the most for their dedication. During my leisure time, I love going for walks; listening to music; reading newspapers, magazines, journals, and articles; spending quality time with my kids; watching movies; long drives; work on my cars; help around the home, in the garden, or in the kitchen. I love to travel, the company of my friends, family, and colleagues; sharing a laugh and a meal together. I make every effort to reach out and remain connected to my friends and colleagues. It’s the simple things in life that make me happy.

11. What’s your goal and vision for the next few years?

We are still working towards achieving my father’s goal. We are now a family of 14,000 employees and we aim to expand it to 20,000. We faced a lot of challenges during 2019- 2020 due to the pandemic but we haven’t lost track. As the government is providing additional facilities for the automotive manufacturing and IT industry, we aim to move towards that in the coming days. Our goal for the year 2025 is to complete investments of about BDT5000 crore – growing vertically and horizontally in all our existing industries, and few new industries. All 3 of us brothers are working together towards making those visions come true.