Board of Directors
Mr. Petter Boerre Furberg was appointed to the Board on 26 May 2017 and is also the Chair of Grameenphone Board. Since 01 April 2019, Mr. Furberg is serving as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Telenor Norway. Prior to this, he served as Executive Vice President and Head of Emerging Asia Cluster, Telenor Group. He also served as interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Grameenphone during November 2016 to May 2017. Before joining Grameenphone as the interim CEO, he was the Senior Vice President Telenor Digital Businesses, based in Bangkok. Prior to that, Mr. Furberg served as CEO of Telenor Myanmar for three years. Since joining Telenor in 1998, he has held a number of executive positions, including Chief Financial Officer and Chief Marketing Officer of dtac, Thailand, and Head of Financial Services at Telenor Group. Mr. Furberg holds a degree in Economics and Business Administration based on a four year programme from the Norwegian School of Economics and is a Certified European Financial Analyst (AFA/CEFA).
Mr. M Shahjahan was appointed to the Board on 26 June 2006 and is also chair of the Company’s Treasury Committee. He is the former Managing Director of Grameen Bank. He acted as the Managing Director of Grameen Bank from 14 August 2011 to 30 October 2014. Now, he is the Managing Director of Grameen Telecom Trust. Earlier, he served as the Deputy Managing Director, the General Manager and Head of the Accounts, Finance, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Division, the Chief of the Audit Department, and the Zonal Manager of Grameen Bank. Mr. Shahjahan is a member of the Board of Directors of several companies that work in the fields of health, education, agriculture, welfare, renewable energy and telecommunications. He obtained a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree in Accounting from the University of Dhaka in 1976, as well as a Master’s degree in Accounting in 1977 and a Master’s degree in Finance in 1981. He was awarded ICAB Medal (Silver) for passing the ‘C.A. Intermediate’ examination at the earliest eligible chance in 1981
Mr. Md. Ashraful Hassan was appointed to the Board on 20 January 2010. He currently serves as Managing Director of Grameen Telecom and is engaged in promoting and providing easy access to GSM cellular services in rural Bangladesh. He also serves as Managing Director of Grameen Distribution Ltd. and Grameen Shamogree. He has profound knowledge in sales channels and product sourcing. He keeps his own signature tune in Grameen Distribution with a broad experience in the concept of business development and supply chain management. He has extensive and diversified knowledge in various industrial sectors, especially in the field of textile focusing on resource efficient, and energy saving production. He has wide exposure in industrial management, local & export market, labour management, developing rural artists & artisan goods and so on. Mr. Ashraf also acquired wide range of experience for different kinds of project development and industrial setup. He has an extensive knowledge in the field of construction engineering. He started his career in Grameen Bank in 1984. During his 15 year tenure with the Bank, he held various key positions, including the Chief of Engineering section. He made notable contribution to the infrastructural development of Grameen Bank. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of several enterprises that play a commendable role in the fields of renewable energy, health care, food and nutrition, information and communication technology, employment generation and so forth. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh
Mr. Haakon Bruaset Kjoel was appointed to the Board on 14 September 2011. He is a senior corporate and public affairs professional with extensive experience from the telecom and digital industries in Europe and Asia. He is currently the Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer of Telenor Group’s mobile operator in Thailand, dtac. Prior to this, Mr. Haakon served as Telenor’s Senior Vice President for for Partner and External Relations for Asia and Acting Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer. Mr. Haakon serves on the Board of Directors of several Telenor Group companies in Singapore, Telenor Myanmar, Telenor Pakistan, and Digi in Malaysia where he serves as the Chair of the Board. He is also a non-executive Director of the architect and design company Snohetta AS headquartered in Oslo. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo, where he also studied public relations
Ms. Parveen Mahmud FCA was appointed to the Board on 17 October 2012. Ms. Mahmud serves in various Boards, including the Chairperson of Underprivileged Children Education Programme (UCEP) and Her Story Foundation. She was the Chairperson, Shasha Denims Ltd., MIDAS (Micro Industries Development Assistance and Services) and Acid Survivors Foundation. She served three terms in the Council and Past President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB). In her diversified professional career, Ms. Mahmud worked in the development sector and was a practicing Chartered Accountant. Ms. Mahmud started her career with BRAC, and was the Managing Director, Grameen Telecom Trust and Deputy Managing Director of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF). She was a partner of ACNABIN, Chartered Accountants. She was the first female President of ICAB for the year 2011 and also the first female Board member in the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), the apex accounting professional body of the SAARC. She was the Chairperson, CA Female Forum, ICAB. She was the member of National Advisory Panel for SME Development of Bangladesh and founding Board member of SME Foundation and Convener, SME Women’s Forum. Ms. Parveen Mahmud is the recipient of Ananyanna Top Ten Women- 2018 Award in 2019 for social development, Joya Alokit Nari- 2018 Award from RTV for entrepreneurship and women’s empowerment, “Women at Work -2017” Award from Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) and “Women of Inspiration Awards”-2017 from the Bangladesh Organisation for Learning & Development (BOLD). She received the Begum Rokeya Shining Personality Award 2006 from Narikantha Foundation for women’s empowerment.
Mr. Oivind Burdal was appointed to the Board on 18 May 2016. In 2004, he joined the Legal Department of Telenor ASA where he has practiced and held managerial positions in several areas. In August 2017, he was appointed Vice President, Head of Group Legal Asia in Telenor ASA after having served as Senior Vice President, Head of Legal in Telenor Myanmar Limited since July 2015. After obtaining his law degree, in 1998, he joined Thommessen Krefting Greve Lund, one of the major law firms in Norway, focusing on M&A and TMT. Mr. Burdal obtained his Law degree (Cand. Jur.) from the University of Oslo, Norway, his degree in Business Administration (Bedriftsokonom BI) from BI Norwegian Business School Oslo, Norway and his masters’ degree (LLM, Master of Corporate and Commercial Law) from London School of Economics and Political Science in London, England
National Prof. (Dr.) Jamilur Reza Choudhury was appointed to the Board on 15 June 2016 as an Independent Director and he is also Chair of the Company’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC). He is one of the leading Engineers and Academics in the country. He started his career in 1963 as a Lecturer in Department of Civil Engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and was appointed as Professor in 1976. He was Head of the Department (1978-79, 1981-83), Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at BUET (1983-85) and Director of Computer Centre at BUET (1982-92), the largest computing facility in the country. He received his Ph.D. from University of Southampton, UK, in 1968 and was awarded the Doctor of Engineering (Honoris Causa) degree by University of Manchester, UK, in 2010. He has been involved with planning, design and construction of some of the largest infrastructure projects in Bangladesh (ports, airports, buildings and bridges). He was the President of Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (1992-93). He was elected as Fellow of Institution of Civil Engineers, UK, in 1995. He was an Adviser (Minister) to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh in 1996 and was in charge of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and Ministry of Water Resources. He was Chairman of the Board of Bangladesh Shilpa Bank (1996-98). He has headed a large number of Committees and Task Forces formed by the Government to formulate ICT Policies and Plans (1997, 2001, 2007). He was the first Vice Chancellor of BRAC University (2001-10) and since 2012, he has been the Vice Chancellor of University of Asia Pacific. The Government of Bangladesh appointed him as a National Professor in 2018
Mr. Irfan Wahab Khan was appointed to the Board on 14 July 2019. Mr. Irfan is the EVP, Head of Emerging Asia cluster Telenor Group, Chair of Telenor Myanmar, Chair of Telenor Microfinance Bank and CEO of Telenor Pakistan since 2016. Prior to that, Mr. Irfan served as Deputy CEO of Telenor Pakistan for two years. Since joining Telenor in 2004, he has held a number of executive positions across Telenor Group including Executive Vice President Telenor Pakistan, CEO Telenor LDI, Group Vice President Devices & Distribution Telenor Group and Chief Marketing Officer Telenor Pakistan. Prior to Telenor, Mr. Irfan worked at Orange UK, T-Mobile USA, Telcodia Technologies USA and Ericsson Philippines. Mr. Irfan holds a Master’s degree in Mobile and Personal Communications from University of Westminster, London, UK. He also holds qualifications in Financial Management from Harvard Business School, Executive Diploma in Marketing from London Business School and Advance Management from INSEAD and a Qualified Board Director from IMD. He is also a lifetime Alumni of INSEAD.
Mr. Lars Erik Tellmann was appointed to the Board on 11 December 2019 and he is also Chair of the Company’s HSSE Committee. Mr. Tellmann is Senior Vice President and Head of Portfolio Management & Business Development Asia, Telenor Group. Mr. Tellmann joined Telenor Group in 2001 and has since served in a various leadership positions in both Norway, Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar. He was Chief Financial Officer of Telenor Myanmar Ltd. from 2013 to 2016, and Chief Executive Officer of Telenor Myanmar Ltd. from 2016 to 2018. Before joining Telenor, Mr. Tellmann had his initial experience in the Software industry with Agresso Group ASA in Norway. He had also served as Board Member of Grameenphone from December 2011 to December 2013. Currently, he is also a Board member of Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, Malyasia, Telenor Pakistan Ltd. and Wave Money Ltd. in Myanmar. Mr Tellmann holds a Master of Science in Business (M.Sc. / Sivilokonom) degree from NORD University in Norway, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh
Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed was appointed to the Board on 12 December 2018 as an Independent Director and he is also Chair of the Company’s Audit Committee. He was appointed as the Governor of the Bangladesh Bank (Central Bank) in May 2005, for a term of four years up to 30 April 2009. He started his career as a lecturer in Economics at Dhaka University in 1970. Joining the erstwhile Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP), he served in various capacities in the field of administration of the Government of Bangladesh. He worked in the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP), a regional inter-governmental organisation with its headquarters in Dhaka. Dr. Ahmed was the Director General of Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), Cumilla and also Director General of the NGO Affairs Bureau of the Office of the Prime Minister. During 1996-2005, Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed was the Managing Director of Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), the apex funding agency of micro credit operations in Bangladesh. He has authored several books, reports and journal articles which have been published at home and abroad. He is on Governing Bodies of several Government and Non-Government agencies and universities in Bangladesh. Dr. Ahmed was awarded Nawab Sir Salimullah Foundation Gold Medal for contributions in Economics in 2006. He also received the Distinguished Alumni Award from McMaster University, Canada at the Convocation held in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in November 2006. Besides these, he was given several other awards by different bodies. Dr. Ahmed did his Master Degrees in Economics from Dhaka University and McMaster University in 1969 and 1974 respectively and obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from McMaster University, Canada in 1978. Presently, he is working as a Professor at BRAC Business School, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh