Pran founder passes away

Amjad Khan Chowdhury, chief executive officer of PRAN-RFL Group, passed away at a US hospital yesterday. He was 75.

The former army general-turned-businessman, who first took a Bangladeshi brand abroad and pioneered food processing business in Bangladesh, had long been suffering from cardiac complications and diabetes, according to Kamruzzaman Kamal, director (marketing) of the group.

Born in Natore in 1940, Amjad Khan Chowdhury studied in Dhaka before joining Pakistan army in 1956.

After the liberation of Bangladesh, he was repatriated in 1973.

In Bangladesh army, he held many important positions including that of general officer commanding (GOC) at Comilla and Bogra cantonments. He served as the quarter master general of Bangladesh army before retiring in 1981.

In 1982, he started his business career and made his first major breakthrough in 1991 when he launched his agro-processing business -- PRAN.

It soon became a household name in Bangladesh and went on to make a foray into the export market in 1996. PRAN products are now exported to more than 106 countries.

It currently employs around 60,000 people and works with around one lakh farmers countrywide.

Amjad Khan was elected president of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Dhaka twice in a row -- in 2011 and 2012.

He also was the founder-president of Real Estate & Housing Association of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Agro-Processors' Association and a former president of Underprivileged Children's Education Programme - UCEP.

In 2011, Amjad was recognised as the Business Person of the Year at The Daily Star-DHL Bangladesh Business Awards. His PRAN Group won HSBC Export Excellence Awards in 2012.