Did anyone realise that Pakistan right now has two former bankers as President and Prime Minister. With Mush in Amrika, the chairman of the senate becomes the acting President, in this case it’s Mian Soomro, ex (i think) citi banker and former CEO of National Bank of Pakistan.
So my question is…you have Aziz and Soomro…both Mushy’s post coup and pre election favourites as the President and PM, so what was the point of holding elections if you don’t believe in selecting someone from a political background?
Who says leaders have to have a political background? That would make them people who are concerned with doing what is popular with the masses, rather than doing what is best for the country.
I think it's great having such eminent businessmen in positions of power.
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*Originally posted by PakistaniAbroad: *
eminent businessmen? they are just bankers Maddy.... and amreekan banks at that..
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Firstly,Mian Soomro only worked at one american bank, Bank of America. He has also been General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of International Bank of Yemen, Faysal Islamic Bank of Bahrain, Muslim Commercial Bank, Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan, Federal Bank of Cooperatives and National Bank of Pakistan.
Secondly, in the case of Shaukat Aziz, rising to being a VP at Citibank is no easy deal and takes a great deal of professionalism and competence. Those are qualities that I truly love to see in a Pakistani leader, and which has all too sadly been missing for many, many decades.
The main reason Mr.Aziz rose rapidly was his close links to Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal who bailed out Citi by buying a controlling interest. Word is that Aziz was involved in "persuading" the Prince. Other than that Aziz was mainly a "personal banker" for wealthy patrons globally, especially in the Middle East and Pakistan.
Having personal contacts with influential people is no mean achievement, but that does not translate to economic genius or management abilities.
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*Originally posted by Talwar: *
Shaukat Aziz is no Alan Greenspan.
The main reason Mr.Aziz rose rapidly was his close links to Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal who bailed out Citi by buying a controlling interest. Word is that Aziz was involved in "persuading" the Prince. Other than that Aziz was mainly a "personal banker" for wealthy patrons globally, especially in the Middle East and Pakistan.
Having personal contacts with influential people is no mean achievement, but that does not translate to economic genius or management abilities.
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Shaukat Aziz's role in Citibank's Private Banking Division, where he was responsible for the managing Citibank's relationships with many of it wealthiest clients, actually cam very late in his career, being his last assignment there. His career was built in the Corporate and Investment banking arms of Citibank, where your own professionalism and competence mattered rather than ability to form external networks.
we can keep dissecting the chronology of events or particulars that lead to a person's rising to the top, but in the end what matters is that particular person did make it big, and others didnt, there must be something special about him or her. every person who ever recahes the heights is labelled a climber of the 'other' kind, who gets 'there' through every means other than his abilities. when gen Mush became CE of Pakistan in 1999 everyone all of a sudden started finding out he wasnt a good general and had made it to the top rank through boot licking, socializing with the right leaders and generals, attending drinking sessions with top brass and so on...now that Shaukat Aziz is there we keep trying to prove what an incompetent man he is and whatever he has achieved is through his contacts...ok, if he were that incompetent why did he make such BIG contacts? why cant we all make such big contacts? either theres more to it than that, or, perhaps the formula for success isnt exactly whate we all think it is after all...perhaps the conventional supernatural competentcy, excellent academic background, supernatural brin power, hard work etc dont matter as much...perhaps the formula includes being at the right place at the right time, doing the right thing for the right people, lifting the right pair...
i wonder...