PROFILE

Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, an economist of international repute, took charge of the office of the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Privatisation & Investment with a status of Federal Minister on December 9, 2002. He has also taken charge of the Chairman Board of Privatisation Commission. He took oath as member of the Senate of Pakistan on March 12, 2003.

Dr. Shaikh has over 20 years experience in policymaking and management. Before joining the Federal Government as Advisor to the PM, he was serving in the Sindh Government as Minister for Finance, Planning and Development. He remained country head of the World Bank in Saudi Arabia and also led assignments and advised more than 18 countries of Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa as senior World Bank official. Some of these countries include Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Jordan, Qatar, Malta, Botswana, Tanzania, Ghana, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Romania, Czech Republic and Argentina. Before joining the World Bank, he worked at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has a Ph. D in economics and authored many publications including a book on 'Argentina's Privatisation'. He also led the teams for successful privatisation in many countries in the field of telecommunication, electricity, transport, aviation, banking and manufacturing.

Dr. Hafeez Shaikh had a successful tenure as Minister for Finance, Planning & Development in Sindh Province. He was the architect of the financial recovery of Sindh, restoring financial discipline and reducing taxes, increasing revenues, paying over Rs. 20 billion of old bills, clearing the over draft of State Bank of Pakistan of Rs. 11 billion, increasing allocation for poverty alleviation, social sector and development and enhancing relationship of Sindh Government with international donor agencies.