Shaukat Aziz
Shaukat Aziz (born March 6, 1949, Karachi, Pakistan) is the current Finance Minister and Prime Minister of Pakistan. He became Finance Minister in November, 1999 and was nominated for the position of Prime Minister after the resignation of Zafarullah Khan Jamali on June 6, 2004.
Education
Aziz attended Saint Patrick’s School, Karachi and Abbottabad Public School, Abbottabad. Graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Gordon College, Rawalpindi, in 1967. Obtained MBA Degree in 1969 from the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi.
Career
In 1969, he joined Citibank, serving in various countries, including Pakistan, Greece, the United States, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore, and others. He served as Citibank's head of Corporate and Investment Banking for various regions, including the Asia Pacific Region, Central & Eastern Europe, and the Middle East And Africa; as Corporate Planning Officer, Citicorp; as a country Manager for Citibank in Malaysia and in Jordan. He has been a board member of Citibank subsidiaries including Saudi American Bank, Citicorp Islamic Bank, and of several non-profit organizations. He was appointed Executive Vice President of Citibank in 1992, reporting directly to the Chairman/CEO. Before taking leave from Citigroup, he was the head of its global Private Banking division.
In November, 1999, Mr. Aziz became Pakistan’s Minister of Finance, with responsibility for Finance, Economic Affairs, Statistics, Planning and Development;, and Revenue Divisions. As Minister of finance, Mr. Aziz also heads the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet, the Cabinet Committee on Investment, the Executive Committee of National Economic Council and the Cabinet Committee on Privatization.
In 2001, Mr Aziz was declared 'Finance Minister of the Year' by Euromoney and Banker's Magazine.
Mr. Aziz was named as Prime Minister by interim Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain after the resignation of Zafarullah Khan Jamali on June 6, 2004. He is expected to retain his position as Minister of Finance.
On July 29, 2004, Aziz survived an assassination attempt in Fateh Jang, Pakistan, a town 45 miles north of Islamabad. A suicide bomber blew himself up next to the car in which Aziz was travelling and while Aziz survived the attack his chauffeur was killed along with eight other people in the vicinity. Over 50 people were injured in the attack for which al Qaeda later claimed responsibility.
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