Full Name: Dr. Shamsul Alam

Affiliation: Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Current Position: State Minister, Ministry of Planning

Date of Birth: January 01, 1951

Place of Birth: Bangladesh

Home District: Chandpur

Nationality: Bangladeshi

Profile:

Dr. Shamsul Alam (born 01 January 1951) is a Bangladeshi is a Bangladeshi economist. He last served as a member of the Bangladesh Planning Commission in the rank of Senior Secretary in General Economics Department. He is a syndicate member of Sylhet Agricultural University (Sikribi). The Government of Bangladesh awarded him the Ekushey Padak in 2020 for his special contribution to the economy. On 18 July 2021, he takes oath as the Minister of State of Planning in the Government of Bangladesh.

Alam was born in Matlab Uttar upazila of Chandpur district. He graduated in 1965 from the then East Pakistan Agricultural University (now Bangladesh Agricultural University) with a degree in agricultural economics and received his post-graduate degree in 1973. In 1983, he received a post-graduate degree in economics from Thammasat University, Bangkok and obtained his PhD in the same subject from Newcastle University, England in 1991.

During his career, Alam taught at Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh from 1984 to 2009. He worked as a Bangladeshi Consultant in the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) from 2002 to December 2005. In 2008, he was a visiting professor at Humboldt University in Germany, Ghent University in Belgium and Ersmas Mundus Scholar and Researches at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Besides, he also served as a faculty member in the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University.

On July 1, 2009, the government appointed him as a member of the Planning Commissionon deputation leave. He was made the senior secretary in 2015 while he was a member of the commission. He retired from teaching in 2016. His term as a member of the Commission was extended several times after his term expired. Most recently, on June 20, 2018, the government re-appointed him for three years. Alam retired from the post of Senior Secretary on 30 June 2021.

During his tenure in the Planning Commission, Alam formulated 'Bangladesh's First Perspective Plan' (2010-2021) and 'Sixth Five Year Plan' (2011-2015). He played an important role in formulating the policies of 'Bangladesh Sustainable Development Strategy Paper' (2011-2021) and 'Social Security Strategy Paper' (2015-2025). He directly supervised and edited a number of reports, studies and research books on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Bangladesh.

Alam authored 12 books on economics, including research and textbooks. He also edited 18 books and published 48 research reports in various journals.

Alam has been awarded several prizes. In 2018 the South Asian Network for Economic Modeling awarded him the Economist of Influence Award. He also awarded the Bangladesh Agricultural Economists Association Gold Medal  and the 'Nazrul Islam Memorial Medal' by the Bangladesh Education Observatory Society in the same year. In 2020, the government of Bangladesh awarded him the Ekushey Padak, the second highest civilian award in the country, for his special contribution to the economy.

Register for comment

Comments

No data found