ISLAMABAD – Ali Jehangir Siddiqui appointed ambassador-at-large forinvestment
A notification has been issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Fridaythat Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved appointment of Pakistan’sformer Ambassador to United States, Ali Jehangir Siddiqui as“Ambassador-at-Large” for foreign investment. According to thenotification, Ali Jehangir Siddiqui has been appointed as“Ambassador-at-Large” for foreign investment in an honorary capacity witheffect from 13th June 2019.
Ali Jehangir Siddiqui is a diplomat and entrepreneur. He is the formerAmbassador of Pakistan to the United States. Previously, he served asSpecial Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan with the status ofMinister of State. He recently joined the board of Afiniti also known as a“Global Unicorn” along with the former British Prime Minister DavidCameroon and Admiral William Owen, Ex-US Vice Chairman Joint Chief ofStaff. He also served in various business and government advisory councils,policy institutions and commercial entities.
Siddiqui founded JS Bank in 2006 by acquiring American Express Bank’sPakistan operations. Over the space of a decade the Bank has grown to $4billion in assets, 5000 employees and branches in over 160 cities inPakistan. Previously he was Chairman and Chief Investment Officer at JSPrivate Equity Management.
Siddiqui graduated from Karachi Grammar School in 1995. In 1999, hegraduated from Cornell University with a B.A. degree in Economics. He hasalso pursued additional educational courses at MIT, the University ofCambridge and the University of Oxford.
In March 2018, he was appointed as the Ambassador of Pakistan to the UnitedStates and commenced his duties on May 29, 2018. Prior to his appointmentas the Pakistani Ambassador to the United States. Siddiqui’s reputation andwork was acknowledged by US commentators while it has been frequentlycriticized by Indian media.
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In June 2018, Siddiqui presented his credentials to US President DonaldTrump. In July 2018, Siddiqui met James Mattis, the US Secretary ofDefence. The meeting took place at the Pentagon where Siddiqui received aguard of honor on behalf of Pakistan. During celebrations for Pakistan’s71st Anniversary of Independence in August 2018 at the Pakistani Embassy inWashington, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South andCentral Asian Affairs Ambassador Alice Wells, the Chief Guest at the event,acknowledged Pakistan’s sacrifices against terrorism and stated thatSididqui was “an important player here” and that “everyone in town has metyou and is talking about the energy you bring to the job.”
Soon after Shahid Khaqan Abbasi became Prime Minister of Pakistan, Siddiquijoined the Government and served as a Special Assistant to the PrimeMinister with the status of a Minister of State from August 2017 until May2018. Moreover, he has been involved in several multilateral engagements.As Special Assistant to the Prime Minister in 2017 and 2018, Siddiquiparticipated as a member of the Prime Ministers delegations to theOrganization of Islamic Cooperation, Commonwealth Heads of GovernmentMeetings, UN General Assembly, Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Councilof Heads of Government Meetings and the World Economic Forum AnnualMeetings. Ali was also listed by Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue asamongst the top 100 individual taxpayers in Pakistan for the year 2013. In2014, he was chosen as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
The appointment of a high caliber and experienced campaigner like AliJehangir Siddiqui bodes well for the future prospects of Pakistan’s foreigncommitments. It has been well known that Pakistan is fraught with lowforeign investment and there is need to capitalize on the investmentsector. Thus, the PTI government’s step to appoint him forAmbassador-At-Large for investment is a step taken in the right direction.
