Ashik Chowdhury, born Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun, is a Bangladeshi banker and chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority and Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority.[1] He is also an amateur skydiver.[2]
Chowdhury was born in Chandpur and was raised in Jessore due to his fathers posting.[3] He studied at the Sylhet Cadet College. He did his Bachelor of Business Administration from Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka.[4] [5] He did his Master's in Finance from London Business School. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Chowdhury started his career as a Territory Officer of the British American Tobacco in February 2007. He joined Standard Chartered Bank in August 2007 and worked there till March 2011 as a manager in the Lending Strategy and Financial Planning Division. He co-founded The Bench, the first sports bar in Bangladesh.
Chowdhury joined American Airlines in London in October 2012 as a financial and strategic analyst and left in May 2019 as the Head of Finance, Europe and Asia. He was a visiting professor at the Bangladesh University of Professionals. He was an advisor of Grameen Telecom Trust. He joined HSBC Bangladesh before moving onto HSBC Singapore. He was awarded the Professional Achievement Award by British Council Bangladesh.[6] He was the Associate Director of Infrastructure Finance Investment Banking in October 2024 when he left the post.
In September 2024, Chowdhury was appointed Executive Chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority replacing Lokman Hossain Miah. He was also appointed Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority replacing Md Sarwar Bari who was appointed in July 2024.[7]
Chowdhury is an avid skydiver.[8] In Memphis, he jumped from 41,795 feet with a flag of Bangladesh.[9] [10] He was sponsored by United Commercial Bank PLC.[11] He was awarded the Greatest Distance Freefall with a Banner or Flag record by Guinness World Records.[12] He also holds a private pilot license in Bangladesh.He is married to Nabila who is also an IBA, DU graduate. They are blessed with a daughter and a son.