ISLAM

Khan Muhammad Azam comes from a family with great traditions of social and public services. He is the son of Late Ch Niaz All Khan, a premier grower of the Punjab and a philanthropist, who on the advice of Dr. Sir Muhammad lqbal established in 1934 a centre of Islamic Learning near Pathankot (India), His mother was an Al-Qadiri saint. Mr. Azam was educated at the Punjab Agricultural College, Lyallpur now Faisalabad (1947-1953). Government College, Lahore (1953-1954), Trinity CollegeDxford (1954-1958), Pakistan Administrative Staff College, Lahore (1969-1970).Azam served with ICI (Pakistan) Limited from 1960 to 1966 as a member of its senior management, staff looking after chemical trade and Company's wide agricultural interests. In 1966. Mr Azam joined the West Pakistan Agricultural Development Corporation as Director. Planning and Evaluation Division and was associated with the formulation of a number of major agricultural policies and development projects. In 1972.Mr. Azam was deputed to the National Bank of Pakistan, as Senior Vice President and Director of Agricultural Projects. In 1973, Mr Azam was appointed as a Chief in the Planning Commission of Pakistan with responsibility for Agriculture and Food Section and Projects Wing and in that capacity also served as a member of the High Agriculture Committee. In 1975, Mr. Azam was deputed to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations as the Regional Agricultural Economist for the Near East at Cairo and is currently serving as Senior Economist in the Joint ESCWA/FAO Agriculture Division in the United Nations Economic and Social, Commission for Western Asia at Amman. During this period, Mr. Azam has participated in important missions to a large number of Arab and Islamic Countries and has been responsible for the organization of a number of regional expert and inter-governmental meetings. Mr. Azam is a visiting lecturer in agricultural planning and project analysis to the National Institutes of Public Administration in Pakistan, the Institute of National Planning, Cairo and the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries, Ankara and an external examiner of the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. Mr.Azam is the author of numerous research papers and two books: Planing and Economic Growth with Special Reference to Agriculture' (1968) and "Economics and Politics of Development: An Islamic Perspective "(1988). In preface to the first book Professor Colin Clark writes: "In addition to his achievements as an economist and administrator, Mr. Azam has shown a wisdom and breadth of outlook regarding more gencral questionOf-social and public welfare which is to be found. one regrets to say, among few economists now, in these days of excessive specialization".