The Man Steering Pakistan's Economy Isn't Afraid to Take Risks
- New finance minister Asad Umar faces immediate economic test
- He turned Engro into one of nation’s largest conglomerates
Asad Umar, Pakistan's incoming finance minister, listens during an interview in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Aug. 2.
Photographer: Asad Zaidi/Bloomberg
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Asad Umar’s expertise in hazardous materials should come in handy for his new job: managing Pakistan’s economy.
When the nation’s new finance minister was told two decades ago he couldn’t import chemicals through a Karachi port because of its storage terminal’s weak safety standards, he just went and built a new unit himself. Back then, he was a senior official at Engro Corp., where he eventually worked his way up the ranks to chief executive officer and turned the company from largely a fertilizer maker into one of the nation’s biggest conglomerates.