Mohammad Hasan Arif

Mohammad Hasan Arif is a senior Bangladeshi civil servant who serves as the Vice Chairman (Chief Executive) of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), having assumed office on 15 September 2025. He was appointed by the government on 8 September 2025, while serving as Additional Secretary in the Economic Relations Division (ERD), and brings over 25 years of public service experience spanning trade, investment, economic diplomacy, and international development cooperation.

🎓 Education

Mohammad Hasan Arif has a multidisciplinary academic background spanning pharmacy and economics, with international education experience:

• 💊 Undergraduate and Graduate Degrees in Pharmacy — University of Dhaka
• 📊 Master's Degree in Economics — Yamaguchi University, Japan (under Japanese Government's JDS Scholarship programme)
• 🏆 Certified Public-Private Partnership Professional (CP3P) — International certification

🏛️ Civil Service Career

Mohammad Hasan Arif joined the 18th BCS administration cadre in 1999 and has served in various field-level administrative posts over a 25+ year career. His career has spanned multiple ministries, government agencies, and international assignments:

• 🏛️ Field-level administrative posts — Various positions in field administration
• 💰 Economic Relations Division (ERD) — Head of Administration; led the Middle East wing and the Americas and Japan wing
• 🇯🇵 Commercial Counsellor — Bangladesh Embassy in Tokyo, Japan
• 🏦 Alternate Governor of Bangladesh to the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB)
• 📊 Board positions — IsDB-BISEW, Institute of Public Finance Bangladesh, SME Foundation

🌐 International Experience

Hasan Arif has extensive international exposure, having completed specialised training in United States, Japan, Australia, China, Thailand, and India. He has represented the Bangladesh government on official visits to:

• 🇩🇪 Germany
• 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
• 🇦🇹 Austria
• 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
• 🇧🇷 Brazil
• 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
• 🇲🇾 Malaysia
• 🇩🇿 Algeria
• 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea
• 🇵🇼 Palau
• 🌍 And other nations

This extensive international experience has given him direct insights into trade, investment, and economic affairs across diverse geographic and economic contexts — experience that is directly relevant to his role leading Bangladesh's export promotion efforts.

📊 EPB Vice Chairmanship

As Vice Chairman (Chief Executive) of the Export Promotion Bureau, Mohammad Hasan Arif leads Bangladesh's premier export promotion agency. The EPB operates under the Ministry of Commerce and is responsible for:

• 📈 Export promotion and market development — Promoting Bangladeshi products in international markets
• 📊 Export data compilation and publication — Maintaining official export statistics
• 🎯 Export target setting — Working with the government to set annual export targets
• 🏛️ Trade fair organisation — Organising Bangladesh's participation in international trade fairs
• 📋 Export policy implementation — Implementing the government's export policy
• 💰 Cash incentive administration — Managing export cash incentive programmes
• 🌐 Export diversification — Promoting diversification beyond the dominant RMG sector

🎯 Strategic Context

Hasan Arif's appointment as EPB Vice Chairman comes at a critical moment for Bangladesh's export sector, which faces multiple challenges and opportunities:

• 🎯 $63.4 billion FY27 export target — 15% growth target requiring aggressive promotion
• 🇺🇸 US tariff impact — 10% tariff on Bangladesh exports effective July 24, 2026
• 🌍 Export diversification — Reducing dependence on RMG (80%+ of exports)
• 🇪🇺 EU GSP+ transition — Preparing for post-LDC graduation market access
• 🏭 SME export support — Recently announced booth rent waiver for SME exporters at international fairs
• 🇨🇳 Trade fair participation — Including China-South Asia Expo, Kunming Import-Export Fair
• 📊 Real-time export monitoring — Tracking export performance against targets

His background in economic diplomacy, international development cooperation, and public-private partnership makes him well-positioned to lead EPB's efforts to expand Bangladesh's export footprint across both traditional and emerging markets. The combination of his ERD experience (working with multilateral lenders) and his commercial counsellor experience in Japan provides a unique perspective on the intersection of export promotion, investment attraction, and international economic cooperation.