A BIOGRAPHY OF MUHAMMED AZIZ KHAN

Summit Group, led by Aziz Khan, established the country’s first independent power plant, Khulna Power Company Limited, in 1998. Summit established the country’s first private off-dock facility, Ocean Containers Limited, which is now known as Summit Alliance Ports Limited and handles around 30% of the country’s export and 10% of its import business. Summit Communications Ltd was the first business to create a statewide communications transmission network, covering 70% of Bangladesh and linking Bangladesh to India and Myanmar by terrestrial fiber optics.

IPCO Ltd, a hospitality and real estate firm, is constructing a five-star and three-star hotel, as well as a conference center and 1,000 shops near Dhaka’s international airport.

Khan led Summit Group in forming a joint venture with GE in 2011 to develop facilities for Bangladesh that will generate 327 megawatts of power. This joint venture received $327 million in finance, with the World Bank contributing $112 million.

In 2012, Khan led Summit Group in forming a joint venture with China Energy Group, the country’s largest government-owned corporation, to construct a number of power projects, including a 341 megawatt power plant for which China Energy Group will provide construction and engineering services worth $220 million.

Khan was elected president of the Bangladesh Association of Publicly Listed Companies (BAPLCO) in 2015. He also led Summit Group to an agreement to create Bangladesh’s first high-tech business park, with the company committing to invest $207 million to construct a portion of the park on its 232-acre site in Kaliakor, Bangladesh.

Khan, his wife Anjuman Aziz Khan, daughter Ayesha Aziz Khan, brother Zafar Umayyad Khan, and nephew Faisal Karim Khan were named in the Panama Papers in April 2016 as the owners of six offshore companies, the majority of which were registered in the British Virgin Islands and used a Singapore address. Summit Group claims that it has no business in Panama and that it has no ties to the law firm Mossack Fonseca. It also claims that Khan is not mentioned in “The Panama Papers.”

The Anti Corruption Commission Bangladesh (ACC) has formed a three-member team to probe the money laundering and tax evasion records of 25 Bangladeshi politicians and businesses, including Khan. However, British journalist David Bergman, who is based in Bangladesh, has stated that the only Bangladeshi citizens related to offshore firms revealed by the ICIJ are those who were involved in a previous 2013 data breach involving the British Virgin Islands.

Because of his long-standing commercial ties with Finland, Khan was designated Honorary Consul General of Finland in Bangladesh in May 2016. Aziz Khan, in particular, has led Summit Group in forging solid business ties with Wartsila, a major Finnish company that has supplied machinery and equipment to several of the Summit Group’s power projects.

Khan also helped Summit Group to secure $190 million in a partnership led by Standard Chartered to fund a $335 megawatt power project in 2016. Khan also assisted in the $210 million Asian Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, and Islamic Development Bank direct loan to a Bangladeshi firm in 2016. Summit may potentially float on the Singapore Stock Exchange, making it the first Bangladeshi business to do so, according to Khan.

Khan said in September 2016 that Summit Group has formed a Singaporean firm that will be publicly listed in Singapore and help finance $2.5 billion for projects in Bangladesh, including a liquefied natural gas port and more electricity capacity.

Summit Group stated in January 2017 that it will construct a $500 million LNG facility in Moheshkhali, Bangladesh. GE is an ownership participant in the project. “By implementing this project, we hope to secure a consistent supply of primary energy for the country,” Khan stated. Summit LNG Terminal Co (Pvt) Ltd was bought by Mitsubishi Corporation in August 2018.

JERA purchased a 22 percent interest in Summit Power International in 2019. “Much-needed technology and funding for Bangladesh’s fast-rising power and energy sector would be accessible from JERA with their enormous experience and balance sheet,” said Summit’s Founder Chairman Muhammed Aziz Khan of the investment. JERA has the potential to be our most valuable partner. This relationship will help us achieve our goal of investing $3 billion in Bangladesh by 2022.

Khan and his family were ranked as Singapore’s 34th wealthiest for the first time in 2018 by Forbes Asia. Muhammed Aziz Khan was named the 37th wealthiest person in Singapore by Forbes in 2020.

Khan tells Bloomberg in 2021 that Summit, JERA, and Mitsubishi Corporation will team up to bid for an estimated USD 2.3 billion in FSRU projects in Payra (Bangladesh), Kerawalapitiya (Sri Lanka), and Pakistan, as he sees demand for storage growing as governments grapple with natural gas price volatility.