Muhammad Mian Soomro

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Muhammad Mian Soomro (Urdu: محمد میاں سومرو) is the Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan. Soomro comes from a renowned political family of Sindh that has been active in public life since 1923. His father, Late Ahmad Mian Soomro, was a seasoned parliamentarian, who was Deputy Speaker of the West Pakistan Assembly and a member of the Senate of Pakistan and helped establish the Senate Committee Systems.

Born on August 19, 1950, Mr.Soomro earned a B.Sc. degree with distinction from Forman Christian College, Lahore. He obtained a M.Sc. in Physics from The Punjab University, followed by a M.Sc. in Operations Management from Northrop University, USA.

An internationally recognized professional banker, Mr.Soomro held various top positions both at home and abroad in national and international organizations such as 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. He earned great recognition for his pre-eminent achievements during his time with these organizations. He was also instrumental in the establishment of Micro Credit Banking in Pakistan.

Being the head of the well-known Soomro tribe, he is known for his strong interpersonal and leadership skills. He is well acquainted with national and socio-political issues and has vast exposure in political life since his college days.

Mr. Soomro's Public Service role started with his appointment as a Governor of Sindh on May 25, 2000. During the tenure, he took a number of steps to bring about financial and administrative discipline, as well as to accelerate the pace of economic development in the province and bring about meaningful change in the quality of life of the general populace. During his governorship the people of Sindh witnessed stability and ethnic hormony. Merit, transparency and good governance were the hallmarks of his administration. This was acknowledged by the International donors, when under his leadership, the province of Sindh became the first province is South Asia to be funded directly by the World Bank for restructuring programme.

Mr. Soomro resigned from the office of Sindh Governor on December 26, 2002 to contest in the Senate elections. He was elected as a Senator on February 23, 2003 and was subsequently elected as Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan on March 12, 2003.