EBL salutes Latifur Rahman

Second from right, M Ghaziul Haque, chairman of Eastern Bank, presents a bouquet at a reception organised by the bank to honour Latifur Rahman, second from left, chairman of Transcom Group, for winning the Oslo Business for Peace Award, at the Westin hotel in Dhaka on Wednesday. Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, chairperson of BRAC; Ragne Birte Lund, Norwegian ambassador; Ali Reza Iftekhar, MD of EBL; and Ziaul Karim, the bank's head of brand and communications, were also present. Photo: Triune

Eastern Bank Ltd (EBL) organised a reception on Wednesday to felicitate Latifur Rahman, chairman and managing director of Transcom Group, for winning the prestigious 'Oslo Business for Peace Award' earlier this month.
The award is a distinction conferred by the Norway-based non-profit organisation, Business for Peace Foundation, to seven business leaders each year in recognition of their outstanding ethical and responsible business practices.
Rahman is the first Bangladeshi to be awarded, whose past honourees include eminent business personalities like Ratan Tata, chairman of India's Tata Group, and Jeffrey R Immelt, CEO of the US-based conglomerate General Electric.
EBL's programme 'Saluting a Business Icon' was held at The Westin Dhaka. Speakers at the event lauded Rahman's leadership, integrity, ethical standards and business acumen.
“I congratulate him not just as a business person but also as a fellow social worker,” said the chief guest Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the founder and chairperson of BRAC.
Rahman has created sustainable long-term benefit to society through his exceptional business judgment, Abed said.
“In order to build sustainable businesses, it is imperative that the management behaves in a socially responsible and ethical manner if it wants to succeed in the long term,” Rahman said. He believes Bangladesh has an extremely bright future on the global stage.
His enterprises boast immaculate tax and bank loan records and are also among the highest-payers of corporate tax, VAT and import duties in a country where many top companies are willful defaulters.
Ragne Birte Lund, the ambassador of Norway to Bangladesh, said: “By setting up numerous prosperous new enterprises, while simultaneously maintaining a vocal stance against unethical business practices, Latifur Rahman is truly a worthy leader of the Bangladeshi business community.”
His advocacy for high standards, his high level of corporate governance and his vision to serve the broader community and the people are other examples of his ethical business practices, Lund said.
M Ghaziul Haque, the chairman of EBL, said: “I am sure the award will inspire the new generation of entrepreneurs to make a meaningful contribution to society.”
Latifur Rahman's award for ethical business practices has special significance for the country, Haque said.
Ali Reza Iftekhar, the managing director and chief executive officer of EBL, complimented that the recognition puts Rahman in the company of exceptional business personalities, and is an extraordinary honour for Bangladesh and its business community.