Ahsan Iqbal

Ahsan Iqbal is a member of National Assembly and Federal Minister for Planning and Development and Deputy Chairman Planning Commission of Pakistan. He is also the Deputy Secretary General of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), and a member of the Central Executive Committee of the party. He was elected as an MNA from his constituency NA-117 (Narowal-III) for the fourth time in the May 2013 elections. He served as a Federal Minister for Education in the coalition government of PPP, PML-N, ANP and JUI-F formed after 2008 elections, but later resigned when his party pulled out of the coalition on 12 May 2008.

Ahsan Iqbal was educated at Cantt Public School Karachi, PAF Public School, Sargodha and the Government College, Lahore. He then studied mechanical engineering at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Lahore (1976–1981), where he was elected President of the Students Union (1980–81). He worked briefly in the private sector with Millat Tractors before moving on to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania for an MBA degree (1984–1986). He has also attended executive programmes at the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University (1989), the University of Oxford (1992) and Harvard University (2004).

His political career started in 1980 when he was elected President of Students Union on the platform of Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba in University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore. In 1988 he joined Pakistan Muslim League (a part of IJI then) later becoming Pakistan Muslim League (N), and was elevated to become its Information Secretary in 2006 during the regime of President Pervaiz Musharraf. He was elected for the first time as an MNA from Narowal in the general elections of 1993, and later re-elected from the same constituency in February 1997. He won his seat again in 2008 and 2013 but lost in 2002 to Riffat Javed Kahloon. He was elected Deputy Secretary General of PML-N in the General Council meeting of PML-N in July 2011. He won the National Assembly election from Narowal in the 2013 General Election defeating the renowned singer Abrar ul Haq who was representing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Ahsan Iqbal had initiated and authored Vision 2010 for Pakistan in 1998, and was responsible for country’s long term economic planning and management as Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission. On his initiative, Pakistan's first National IT Policy was formulated. He was also the Professor of Management at Mohammad Ali Jinnah University, Islamabad (2000–07). He heads a development think tank, Better Pakistan Foundation, as Chairman.

Ahsan Iqbal has earlier served as Policy and Public Affairs Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan (1993). He served as Senior Advisor, Al-Madinah Al-Monawarah Digital Economy Project of the Madina Government, Saudi Arabia from September 2004 to April 2006. He was a part of the turnaround team of Ghee Corporation of Pakistan (appointed 1986) before it was privatized and served as the first Managing Director of the Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (1988–1990) before joining politics.