1. The Tribute… to our CEO

2. The Tribute
The Sun Never Sets It Always Shines
A good leader leads the people from above them. A great leader
leads the people from within them - D. Arnold.
Major General Amjad Khan Chowdhury (retd.) was born in Natore on Nov 10, 1937. He studied at Nabakumar Institution and later, earned his bachelor‟s degree
from the Australian Staff College. He joined the Pakistan Army in 1965 and that‟s how his career started.
Major General Amjad Khan Chowdhury (Retired) was a great leader for PRAN-RFL Group. He started his journey as an entrepreneur in 1981 at the age of 44,
after retiring from the Bangladesh Army, by setting up a small company, Rangpur Foundry Ltd or RFL, to make irrigation pumps which diversified its operation
into PVC category in 1996 and in plastic sector in 2003, is the market leader in all these three sectors: cast iron, PVC and plastic. He was one of the pioneers of
food processing industry in Bangladesh and a true entrepreneur. He was an extraordinary figure in business and his life is a treasure trove of lessons for new gener-
ation of entrepreneurs.
In 1985 he stumbled upon the idea of PRAN and leased six acres of land in Narsingdi. Initially, the land was used to cultivate papaya, banana, pineapple and other
crops, which were brought to the market fresh. But he found it frustrating that a good harvest often did not mean a fair price due to gluts in the market. He had then
realized that the key to agriculture lay in increasing their shelf lives. Subsequently, he had decided to concentrate on processing the agricultural commodities in-
stead of marketing them immediately. But preservation and processing were not commonplace in Bangladesh in comparison to northern South Asia or the colder
parts of the world, where the vegetables and other agro-commodities are preserved for sustenance during the long winter season. He began with sliced pineapples
in canned form and then moved on to mango drink, jams and jellies, with a plan to cater to both the domestic and foreign consumers. The company also formed relationships with farmers who
supply mangoes, mung beans, aromatic rice, tomatoes, peanuts and other commodities for processing.
He had a dream when he forayed into the nascent food processing industry in 1991: that one day the produce of Bangladeshi farmers would be served on the dining tables in Europe. It only took
him five years to reach that goal: in 1996 he made his maiden export and it happened to be to France. It is an achievement that very few exporters can boast of to date.
Today PRAN is a household name in Bangladesh and now exports products to 106 countries. PRAN is the country‟s biggest food processor and it reaches to about 300 million customers. PRAN
employs about 60,000 people directly and about 100,000 farmers countrywide. Amjad Khan Chowdhury was the founder-president of Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh
(REHAB). He was also the founder-president of Bangladesh Agro-Processors‟ Association. In 2012, PRAN Group won HSBC Export Excellence Awards. In recognition of his contribution to-
wards earning foreign currency, PRAN-RFL achieved “Best National Export Award” for eight consecutive fiscal years.
The great leader and entrepreneur passed away on 8th
July, 2015. He might be leave this world but his contribution toward country and unemployed population that cannot be expressed in a single
statement. It can be said that, the dreamer is gone, but the dream lives on.
The Legacy That Started From 1981
Message from the Director– RFL Group
„I have been thinking about this for a long time before I started to write my message in this moment of despair. Maj Gen (Retd.) Amjad Khan Chowdhury is the name of my mentor and the station-
ary star that I have personally been following to build myself to what I am today. His visionary leadership, affectionate advices, golden moments of feedback and his presence on top of us, hae
always been showering blessing, courage and mental peace. Today I have no words to express my feelings how deeply shocked I am, and how deep a feeling of being parentless, losing the great
man. Even in his last days, he never hesitated to guide us like his children and show us the path of light and success. All those memories are so rewarding that words fall sparse to express. I be-
lieve, one of the biggest wealth our company possesses is the fact that such a great leader was the founder of this entity. We all are walking and carrying his examples forward.
Our CEO's dream was to elevate poverty and to take PRAN-RFL group to new heights and create history. This is the time to promise to ourselves that we will put our best efforts to make this
dream come true.
Let us all pray once again for his departed soul the most peaceful rest and a heavenly after life”

3. The Tribute
Heroes Get Remembered But Legends Never Fade
Early life and philosophy
When gazing out of the window of my office, reflections of my past truly inspire me. Early years at
Dhabal Kumar, Saint Gregory, Saint Grailey, Public School of Sargoda and then Cambridge Exam-
inations of 1953 and 1955 were preparing me for something big. Nonetheless, a long academic
course did not appeal me much, perhaps which is what led to my enrollment in the Pakistan Mili-
tary Academy in 1956.
“In the year 1981 I resigned from Bangladesh Army as Major general. Little did I know, this exit
would mean an entry for me in to a revolution; a revolution in the agricultural fields of the country.
Honestly, at that moment I believe I was able to channel my efforts and thoughts in the right man-
ner. I simply refused to concede to the thought that there was nothing more for me to offer to my
country. It was apparent the only way for the nation to pay its due respect to independence was by
attaining economic emancipation. I wanted to play a pioneering role in the business of agriculture;
do the same justice (if not more) to it as I did to the golden uniform, which I once wore with great pride”.
Bringing day dreams to daylight
“The sheer strug-
gle I had to un-
dertake in the
starting years
amazed me quite
a bit. Having
served the nation
with blood and
sweat for dec-
ades, and having
handled funds
amounting to roughly BDT 300 crore as Quarter Master General
(QMG), I assumed it would be easier for me to secure finance for
my own business. One refusal to another landed me at the office of
the then Managing Director of Janata Bank Mr. Aziz Ahmed. He
placed great confidence in my endeavors and sanctioned a loan of
20 lacs. I must say back in those days it was quite a significant
amount. My wife owned a house at RK mission road, passed on to
her by her parents, which I kept for mortgage. I sold three quarters
of my pension fund at about BDT 1, 90,000.
Having encountered financial adversities in Rangpur, I made my
move to the capital. I focused and studied up on agriculture, partic-
ularly the use of tube well by farmers. Losses were piling by the
year. A change in business focus seemed appropriate. My father
was well exposed to the real estate business for some time; I decid-
ed to take it further.
As they say, once a soldier always a soldier. My perseverance re-
mained intact even after leaving the force years ago, and thus I
could not get on board with the fact that RFL and its products did
not work”.
Secret of success
“Our employees at all levels are trained extensively. A school has been instituted for regular sessions in order to motivate the
employees. Training sessions are held every Saturday morning from 9.30 a.m. covering issues such as the current markets, IT
etc. We keep our team happy and contended with lunch, free medical consultancy, and regular pay hikes. Success is all about
people”.
Voice of the legend
The dreams
“My dream is to see women liberated in rural Bengal by earning a living and adding to their household income. I want the
dairy business to be one of the leading endeavors in rural areas (we are doing quite well in this). My efforts have always gone
out towards eradication of poverty by generating as many jobs as possible (a reason behind the creation of PRAN Dairy).
To encourage the development of our staff we have been sending them to be trained in countries like America, Sweden, and
Pakistan. I dream of a world class team at the PRAN RFL Group.
Lastly, I would like to build a hospital in Natore. The healthcare provisions in the area are simply dismal and the suffering of
the poor is unacceptable. An institution that can provide quality service to these people will go a long way”.
-An interview of Gen (Retd.) Amjad Khan Chowdhury with Mr. Monsurul Aziz is a Manager, /BTL/Brand & Market
Communication at Robi Axiata Limited

4. The Tribute
Action Is The Foundational Key To All Success
“ I am lucky to be in his farewell dinner in Army . Outgoing General said
in his speech that he was going to start agro based food processing units
in the country. Agriculture is the main occupation of the nation .So, agro
processing will take the country in next higher level. The beneficiaries
will be the poor farmers of the nation where my concern lies. My mission
lies after retirement to eradicate such poverty forever.”
The Army officers present there then thought what the reality would be.
A local business like honey comb cultivation, small milk unit like
Ghochihata or preparation of pickles for the local market .How much
really he has time to think and grow bigger at retirement?
PRAN RFL has become almost the local company of the globe, not only
in Bangladesh! The expansion is beyond Imaginations!
CEO actually took preparation on business as he was closing to retire-
ment. There were no business schools like today. He studied a lot and met
people like sheikh Seraj to draw his outlines. He made study tours to dif-
ferent places, Faridpur in particular to
confirm his conviction on the course
of his avenues.
He proved to be visionary at the end,
what we took 35 years to understand.
Respect and salute to CEO always.
Lt. Col. Altaf Hussain,psc (retd) former colleague in Army and PRAN
-RFL Group speaks of Major General Amjad Khan Chowdhury
(Retd.)
From the eye of a former colleague The voice of a disciple… COO- RFL-RFL
Suddenly I got a call from RFL HRM department on July 21, 2015 early in the morning. They requested me for an ap-
pointment to discuss about the memories with CEO Sir. At the first place, they asked me to describe him in one word. I
found myself in real trouble to describe such a personality in one word. This will be really an audacity for me.
At a point of discussion, they requested me to write down something about the memories with CEO. Though I am not a
good writer, but when I found such an opportunity I felt inspired and decided to show such courage to write something
about the best motivator I have ever seen in my life. I worked with him very closely and found how he brought out the
latent talents from inside the people. He was a great teacher. He could find out which is the best fit for the person.
He had a heavenly capability to drive people by his visionary thinking. I would like to mention two events of my
life which change my perception a lot. 1. Back in 2001, when I was GM, Distribution (PRAN), one day he asked me,
“Parvez, I heard you can only distribute 60 lakh per day. Why not make it one, two, three …. crore taka delivery per
day? Just write me back in 15 days”. It was my first assignment provided by my CEO sir in my working life ever.
Dear readers, you have understood, he stays in 60 lakh in reality but think about 5 times more than the current sce-
nario. It was his other quality that he could anticipate 10 years in advance and convert it in reality.
By the way, I said earlier that I am not a good writer but it was an order by my boss. So, I should have to prepare some-
thing within the deadline. While preparing the report, I apprehended that my knowledge was not perfect about distribu-
tion. 14 days passed! I couldn‟t even write a single word!! I found myself in real trouble because days were being
passed quickly. But I had belief in myself and I did it at the morning of 15th
day. Instead of 3 crore distribution I got a
plan of 9999 (4 digits instead of single digit) crore in my mind. I just prepared it in only two hours and I felt pressure
free. I sent the plan to the CEO Sir and he liked it. After that central MIS was engaged to make the distribution software
and then we opened depot in several regions of the country by the order of CEO sir.
Dear readers, all the credit goes to the great man not me. He just guided me. He used to tell me that distribution depots
would be the heart of sales of this group. How great visionary person he was! Present distribution system is one of
the examples.
2. In 2006, I was appointed as GM (SCM-PRAN). It was decided in the first meeting by CEO sir that I would handle
SCM (RFL and CS) not PRAN. It was for the first time, I got myself involved with technical purchase, I found myself
in great dilemma but gradually I started to get taste of purchasing engineering items within 2/3 months. How could he
know that as a non technical person I will take the charge of RFL, Rangpur in future? I feel, he had given me the oppor-
tunity to take training on engineering item through purchase and he believed that proper training and mentoring
helps a man to express ones merit. I am the example.
Personally, I am very grateful to this great man. By his divine touch I am here as COO of RFL-Rangpur. Now I am
thinking about business not about job only. It is very painful to think that he is no more (Inna…Rajiun). Praying to al-
mighty Allah so that we should take his company to more better position . May Allah bless all, Ameen.

5. The Tribute
Under his sunlight, PRAN-RFL was born, flourished and will reach beyond our imagination as if he was the sun. He turned a dot into a
circle with his extraordinary visionary power. He used to transmit his visions to his employees. This empowering the employees helped him
to enhance the establishment and enlargement of his dream organization. He demonstrated the visions of a pioneer in introducing different
new concepts for the first time in Bangladesh. He introduced Bangladesh with the direct marketing concept. This reflects the vision where
future sales and marketing policy were totally restructured even before more than 30 years. Now all the organizations are following this
strategy. Under his direct supervision, PRAN-RFL has adopted a unique distribution system with the combination of company owned de-
pots and external distributors countrywide. This system initially incurred a lot of cost for the company. But today after 20 years, this vision
is paying back. It has become the strongest distribution system of Bangladesh. He laid the foundation of PRAN-RFL with the principles of
honesty and hard work. In an interview of 2013 he told that, success is all about people. He explored for resourceful persons, nourished &
retained them to flourish their career as well as PRAN-RFL. Back in 1981 he introduced the modern HR practices. Before 30 years he set
an example of modern HR strategies to the business communities of Bangladesh. One of the significant visions of his was to reduce poverty
through employment creation. The result of his vision is around 70,000 direct employments only in Bangladesh. Only because of his realistic visions, nothing is impossible for PRAN-RFL today
as if the sky is the only limit. He is considered as the pioneer of food processing industry in Bangladesh. He bet on Bangladesh's comparative advantage in tropical climate, fertile soil and ample
sunshine. This vision has an impact of a worldwide business with a Bangladeshi origin. 30 years ago with a vision of food processing and exporting those, he started PRAN when none of the
Bangladeshi business would consider food processing as a business. He always talked about setting up personal examples and he did it by himself. Post 71, we hardly had role models to follow
but him. He championed that other way of doing business – honesty, quite an exception. He told The Daily Star in 2010 that, 'Made in Bangladesh' label is like the flag of Bangladesh.” Even
where there is no high commission of our country, the products of PRAN-RFL is representing us. The seed of a future multinational company originated from Bangladesh was implanted in the
year 1981 by this visionary person. His visions are to be properly recognized by considering him as a global leader.
From fairy tales to reality
“He is a global leader”
- Director– BLIL
“He explored for resourceful persons, nourished & retained them”
-Executive Director– RFL-DPL
“As if he was the sun and we flourished under his light.”
- Chief Operating Officer– RFL-RFL
“He was big hearted & foresighted person”
- Director - Accounts –PRAN-RFL Group
“He taught us how to uphold our dignity and self respect in front of the world by hard work and utilizing our own talent”
- COO– RFL-RPL
“He was the best coach and trainer”
- Director-PRAN
A Shared Dream Never Ends
“He is the pioneer of the direct marketing concept in Bangladeshi business ”
- Sr. GM (Sales)- RFL-RPL
“ he had an unusual power to identify the right person for the right job”
-Sr. GM (Sales)- RFL-DPL

6. The Tribute
Acknowledgment
Mr. Eleash Mridha Director-PRAN
Mr. R N Paul Director– RFL
Md. Babul Islam Director-BLIL
Mr. Choudhury Atiur Rasul Director Accounts PRAN-RFL Group
Mr. Kamruzzaman Kamal Director Marketing PRAN-RFL Group
Mr. Prodip Kumar Podder Executive Director– DPL
All COOs and HOD of PRAN-RFL Group
Mr. Sumit Chakraborty Consultant– RFL –HRM
Lt. Col. Altaf Hussain,psc (retd) Former colleague to CEO
Mr. Sajjad Bin Siddique; Former AM RFL-HRM
Editorial
With a heavy heart and
grieved mind RFL HRM
team published the publi-
cation in the pleasant
memory of and to pay
tribute to, our honorable
CEO sir. His guidance and
directions from the top,
his teachings and exam-
ples left a long lasting
mark in all of our lives.
To convert this grief into
power to act, to promise
for more success, RFL
HRM team has taken the
initiative to publish this
publication. I would like
to thank RFL Director sir,
Pran Director Sir and all
COO sirs, RFL HRM
Consultant Sumit Sir, and
all GM sir‟s for their con-
tribution to make this pub-
lication possible. Never-
theless, RFL HRM team
to be thanked for their
relentless efforts. We may
have made some uninten-
tional mistakes and errors
in this publication, and
would request you kind
generosity to pardon us
for those. Hope our publi-
cation achieves its pur-
pose.
May our CEO sir rest in
peace. Ameen.
- RFL HRM Department
The Tribute
It Hurts To Let Go– So Let Us Be The Torch Bearer
Know Your Job
Do your Job
Apply Common Sense
Set Personal Example