Life-Sketch of Mr. A H Mahmood Ali, MP Minister for Ministry of Finance

Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Dhaka, 31 March 2024:

Mr. Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali was born on 06 February 1943 AD in the district of Dinajpur.

He received B.A. Honours (1962) and M.A. (1963) in Economics from Dhaka University. He started his career as the senior lecturer of Economics, Dhaka University in1964.

Later, he joined the erstwhile Pakistan Foreign Service in 1966. He was posted as Vice-Consul of Pakistan in New York in 1968. Immediately after arriving in New York in 1968, he started to organize the Bengali Community in the United States for independence. He joined the Bangladesh Liberation Movement in April, 1971 and appointed as the Representative of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh at Mujibnagar in the United States in May, 1971. He played an important role in achieving global support in favor of liberation war in United Nations, United States and Canada.

After the independence of Bangladesh, he made an important contribution as a representative of the Government of Bangladesh in the relief and rehabilitation program of the United Nations. In 1974, he played an active role in gaining the membership of Bangladesh in the United Nations. In March 1975, he was appointed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka. Later, he was appointed as First Secretary, Counsellor and Deputy High Commissioner respectively in the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi, the capital of India (1977-79).

He was appointed as the Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of Bangladesh in Beijing, China (1983-86). He outlined new possibilities for Bangladesh-China relations. His efforts made China's participation in the implementation of the Barapukuria coal mine

He launched new transit routes as ambassador to Bhutan and initiated Bangladesh- Bhutan trade. This led to the opening of the Burimari-Chengrabanda land port which gave new life to the economy of North Bengal.

Mr. Mahmood Ali, as Additional Foreign Secretary, signed an agreement with the Government of India to launch the Tin Bigha Corridor under the Mujib-Indira Pact (1992). During this time, he formulated and implemented the Agreement of Understanding regarding the repatriation of Rohingya refugees with Myanmar (1992).

As Bangladesh's ambassador to Germany, he revitalized the country’s economic relations with Germany (1992-95). As ambassador to Nepal, he established a successful understanding of the Bangladesh-Nepal transit route through India (February-October 1996). He was appointed High Commissioner to UK in November 1996 and opened new horizons in Bangladesh-UK relations.

After retirement form service in 2001, he was elected Member of Parliament in the Bangladesh Parliament as Awami League candidate in December, 2008. He was appointed

As the Minister for Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief in September, 2012, and then in November, 2013, he was appointed as the Minister for Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Ali was re-appointed as Foreign Minister in February 2014.Recently he is elected as fourth time

Member of Parliament in 2023 and appointed as Finance Minister for Ministry of Finance of Government of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh.