Farid Rahman elected engineering society president

SWABI: Farid Rahman has been elected as president of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Sciences and Technology (SOPREST), a parent body of Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology.

According to a press release issued on Friday, the first president of SOPREST was late Ghulam Ishaq Khan, a former president of Pakistan. After his death, Engr Shamsul Mulk, former caretaker chief minister of the province and ex-chairman of Wapda, headed the society for 12 years.

Ghulam Ishaq Khan, with the support of a distinguished team of professionals and civil servants, established SOPREST in 1988 with the aim of espousing the cause of higher technical and engineering education in Pakistan.

Farid Rahman has remained an active member of GIK Institute General Council/Board of Governors for about 15 years.

He is an alumnus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, the London School of Economics, and Political Sciences, and the University of Peshawar.

He had joined the Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) in 1962 and served in various capacities. Joining the UN in 1976, he held several senior positions in his 25 years of international career.

More recently, he has served the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as minister for finance, planning and development and local government. He was a member of the Economic Advisory Council, and also served on boards of various public and non-profit organisations, including the Board of the Privatisation Commission of Pakistan, Pakistan Telecom Limited (PTCL) and Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO).

He also served acting president of Mahbobul Haq Human Development Centre for South Asia and a founding member of the Development Trust for Community Empowerment.