Mahmudur Rahman

Mahmudur Rahman (মাহমুদুর রহমান; born 6 July 1953) is one of the owners and acting editor of one of Bangladesh's Bengali daily newspapers, Amar Desh.

He is also an author, engineer and businessman.

He received his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering in 1977 from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

After working in engineering in Japan, he returned to earn a graduate diploma in Ceramic Engineering.

He also earned an M.B.A. from the Institute of Business Administration, Dhaka University.

He married Firoza Khan, the daughter of Harunur Rashid Khan Monno.

The latter has been politically affiliated with the BNP since independence.

Mahmudur Rahman started his career as an operational engineer at British Oxygen, a major British-owned gas company.

He also worked in Munnu Ceramics, Duncan Brothers, Shinepukur Ceramics, Beximco Group, and Padma Textile, including some years in Japan.

After returning to Bangladesh, Rahman started and developed his own company, Artisan Ceramics Limited in 1999.

It was the first bone china plant in the country and a technological breakthrough.

Established in business, Mahmudur Rahman was appointed the executive chairman of the National Investment Board in 2002, and then elevated to national energy adviser in 2005.

In both positions, Mahmudur Rahman set high goals for attracting foreign investments and increasing energy capacity in Bangladesh.

While he had success in attracting foreign investors, he also took controversial steps such as increasing petrol prices or developing open-pit mines that set off protests across the country.

In 2002, he described the obstacles to foreign investment in Bangladesh as the "five 'I's": "image, information, infrastructure, implementation and inefficiency" and committed the government to achieving change.

He credited the opening of the power plant Meghna Energy Limited in Kanchpur, to the government's energy deregulation.

Between 2002 and 2003, foreign investment in Bangladesh increased from $52 million to US$121 million, an increase which Mahmudur Rahman said was the greatest in South Asia.

In 2004, the United Nations reported that foreign investment in Bangladesh had reached a record US$460 million.

Political unrest arose in 2004.

On 21 August, grenade attacks at an opposition Awami League rally killed 20 and injured around 300 others.

General strikes against Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's government were held regularly throughout the end of the year.

Mahmudur Rahman criticized both sides, saying that such political violence and unrest threatened much-needed foreign investment, and the government had to provide security.

He offered his resignation in December 2004, reportedly over a dispute with officials in the Prime Minister's Office, but Zia declined to accept it.

Mahmudur Rahman continued in the post for the remainder of his "two-year contractual obligation."

Mahmudur Rahman's goal was to attract US$1 billion in investment to Bangladesh while in office.

He said that Bangladesh's infrastructure needed improvement.

The government encouraged foreign investment in infrastructure through a "build-own-transfer" model.

In May 2005, Mahmudur Rahman announced a deal with the US company Vulcan Inc. to invest $1.6 billion in new power and fertiliser plants, projected to increase Bangladesh's energy capacity by nearly 50 percent.

In August 2005, Mahmudur Rahman sued five members of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a private think tank, for defamation after they criticised his investment policy.

He said they had made "disgraceful, false and fabricated statements".

The Hindustan Times said the suit and issuance of related arrest warrants, was an example of "persecution of intellectuals critical of the government" and the persons sued were renowned in their field.

The June 2005 explosion at Niko Resources' Tengratila Gas Field in Sunamganj District, was the second during the project to revive the Chattack field.

Since the restoration of civilian government and the Awami League victory in 2008, Mahmudur Rahman has been a strong critic of the government through his newspaper.

Party and government officials have reacted by charging him with defamation and sedition cases more than 50 times since 2009 to 2013.

He is the only person to be sentenced for contempt by the Bangladesh Supreme Court.

International human rights groups and press organisations have characterised the government's actions against him as judicial harassment.

Critics have said he has misrepresented bloggers and activists associated with the 2013 Shahbag protests and contributed to widespread religious tensions and civil unrest.

Mahmudur Rahman was born in Comilla, East Bengal, his mother is Mahmuda Begum.

Artisan Ceramics was sold in 2013.

Mahmudur Rahman was appointed by the administration of Khaleda Zia as chair of the National Investment Board.