Syed Manjur Elahi, nicknamed Moni founding Chairperson of Apex Footwear Limited. He founded Apex Tannery Limited, Apex Investment Limited, Apex Pharma Limited, Blue Ocean Footwear Limited. With the death of Syed Manjur Elahi, one of the most famous industrialists, business leader and philanthropist of Bangladesh, the country lost a bright star. His contribution to the country's trade, economy and industrial sectors will be remembered forever. Syed Manjur Elahi breathed his last yesterday morning in a hospital in Singapore. He was 83 years old at the time of his death.
He was born in Kolkata on September 26, 1942. His father, Sir Syed Nasim Ali, was the first Bengali Muslim judge, and was appointed as a judge of the Calcutta High Court in 1933. His father died when he was five years old. He grew up under the supervision of his elder and wiser brother. The elder brother was a social worker, the middle brother was religious, and the elder brother was the founder of the Calcutta Communist Party. He was a stubborn person since childhood. He did not listen to anyone. The elder brother SA Masud obtained a higher degree in law from Cambridge University in the UK. Later, he was also a judge of the Calcutta High Court. Like his father, he was appointed as the Chief Justice in 1977. The middle brother SA Moudud completed his engineering studies in Britain and joined the civil service. The elder brother SA Mansur was a founding member of the Communist Party of India.
After passing his Master's examination from Dhaka University, he took a job in the finance department of Pakistan Tobacco for Rs 1,900. Six months before the end of the probation period and 18 months after joining, his job was made permanent in October 1966. On November 1 of the following month, he married Nilufar, the daughter of Mofiz Chowdhury, a member of parliament from Joypurhat. In 1970, when the political situation heated up, he was transferred to East Pakistan (Dhaka). As the situation worsened after arriving in Dhaka, he was later transferred to the head office in London. The condition was that he would not be able to apply for residency in London and would return to the country after independence. After the country gained independence on December 16, 1971, on December 25, he came to Bangladesh from London via Kolkata with his family and relatives in January 1972. Sanchay Sen was a close friend of Manjur Elahi's father-in-law Mofiz Chowdhury. Sanchay Sen was like a king in the leather industry of India. Sanchay Sen's father owned the largest tannery in India. Sanchay Sen was the president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). He came to Bangladesh with a delegation. Sometime in May or June 1972, Syed Manjur Elahi's father-in-law Mofiz Chowdhury hosted a dinner at his house for Sanchay Sen, the president of FICCI, and his Lehigh University friend, Sanchay Sen, and other entourage. There, Syed Manjur Elahi spoke to a French businessman. The French businessman named Raymond Clair asked Manjur Elahi, what do you do? Manjur Elahi said, work. Manjur Elahi also wanted to know what you do, he said, business. I import chemicals from France. I buy leather from Dhaka and take it to France. Since the situation in the country was not good, Manjur Elahi did not believe him. In addition, the Chattogram port was also closed. Then he asked the French businessman, how you get the leather. In response, the businessman said, I rent a whole cargo plane and bring the chemicals and then I buy the leather again and fill it. When the French businessman offered to join his company, Syed Manjur Elahi laughed it off and said, I have a good job. The salary is good. Why should I join your company? The businessman said, I am not asking you to join. I am asking you to become an agent of my company. You will do business on commission. Manjur Elahi was curious and asked what kind of commission. Raymond Clair said, he will get so much commission. He calculated it and saw that it was a lot of money. After everyone left after dinner, the father-in-law and Sanchay Sen were sitting. Then Manjur Elahi told his father-in-law about the French businessman's proposal. Although his father-in-law did not say anything, Sanchay Sen was excited. He said, "Good. I represent their Holland France company. People asked me, I forgot. You agree to this proposal." But the problem arose elsewhere. When he told his wife about quitting his job and starting a business, she laughed it off. When he told his elder brother, he also laughed. He said, "You are doing a good job." Then Manjur Elahi became stubborn. He met his father-in-law and told him the matter. His father-in-law said, "Good, do it." Then he said, "Your daughter is not agreeing." He said, "I will convince her." Around July or August 1972. At that time, Manjur Elahi was 30 years old. He decided to quit his job. He started working as an agent for a French businessman. He also flew to France several times.
Syed Manjur Elahi bought leather from Hazaribagh and sold it on commission to Raymond Clair's Hollander Group. In 1975, after the political situation changed, when the government took the initiative to release the tannery to the private sector, Manjur Elahi bought Orient Tannery for Tk.122,000. There was some land, a tin shed and a few drums. Apex Tannery was started in 1976 by renovating that factory. Syed Manjur Elahi started processing leather in the tannery and exporting it. Japanese buyer Mizuze was the first buyer of leather. After 14 years, he started the work of setting up a shoe factory on 50 bighas of land in Safipur, Gazipur. In 1990, his only son Syed Nasim Manjur joined the project after returning home.
Since childhood, he had dreamed of starting a factory and there will be some employment in the factory. There will be jobs for people. It was not clear to him what kind of factory he would build. All he wanted was to build a manufacturing factory. He fulfilled that dream. In his decades of career, Syed Manjur Elahi played an important role in the transformation of the financial and industrial sectors of Bangladesh. He was the founding chairman of Mutual Trust Bank Limited and Pioneer Insurance Company Limited. Apart from this, he was the chairman of Apex Group, one of the most successful business groups in the country. He was awarded many awards for his business acumen. Among them, ‘Business Executive of the Year 2000’ (American Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh) and ‘Business Person of the Year 2002’ are notable. In recognition of his lifelong contribution, he was given the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by the UK-Bangladesh Catalysts of Commerce and Industry. In addition to his business activities, Manjur Elahi was dedicated to public service. He served as an advisor to the former caretaker government of Bangladesh twice in 1996 and 2001, where his professionalism and leadership were widely appreciated. He has also contributed as the chairman of various institutions such as Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh (CRAB), Sunbeams School Limited and MTB Foundation. He was also an influential board member of East West University, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Diabetic Association of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Freedom Foundation.
Born in Kolkata, Manzoor Elahi moved to Dhaka with his family after completing his bachelor's degree in economics from St. Xavier's College. Later, he completed his Master's degree in economics from Dhaka University. He served as the president of Dhaka University Alumni Association (DUAA), which strengthened his lifelong connection with his educational institution.
He also served as the Chairman of Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB), Vice Chairman of Bangladesh Association of Publicly Listed Companies (BAPLC) and Director of Bangladesh Bank, Sonali Bank and Bangladesh Krishi Bank. He was the President of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) and Bangladesh Employers Association (BEA), which highlighted his commitment to economic growth and corporate excellence. In addition, he had a keen interest in social welfare and charitable work. He was deeply involved in numerous charitable organizations, which reflected his commitment to society. In his spare time, he used to watch films made by Satyajit Ray. His favorite hero was Dilip Kumar. Syed Manjur Elahi's son is Syed Nasim Manjur and daughter is Munize Manjur. Syed Manjur Elahi's life partner Nilufar Manjur died of Corona in the first wave of Corona.
Courtesy of Bangladesh Pratidin
