Former AmCham president Cookson no more

Forrest E Cookson, a former president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham), has passed away.

He breathed his last at United Hospital in Dhaka on Tuesday night while undergoing treatment. He was 91, according to a press release issued by AmCham Bangladesh yesterday.

Born on April 26, 1934 in the United States, Cookson first arrived in Bangladesh in the mid-1980s to support a financial sector reform initiative, beginning a decades-long association with the country.

He went on to serve as a consultant to Bangladesh Bank, the central bank, and played a central role in the financial sector reform programme of the 1990s — a landmark effort to modernise Bangladesh’s banking and capital market regulatory framework.

He also advised the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, contributing to the methodological foundations of the country’s national economic data.

Cookson served as AmCham president from 1996 to 2001, during which he worked to consolidate the chamber’s institutional footing and deepen trade and investment ties between the US and Bangladesh.

He had been associated with AmCham since its founding and remained active in its activities until recently, contributing regularly to the AmCham Journal and writing on financial sector and investment climate issues in national newspapers and publications.

“AmCham Bangladesh is deeply grateful for his outstanding contribution and will remember him with the utmost respect,” the chamber said, extending condolences to his family, friends, and well-wishers.