KARACHI: Prominent Karachi businessman and leader of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Siraj Teli passes away in Dubai due to a heart-attack, the KCCI confirmed on Tuesday.
Siraj Kassam Teli was the founding member of the KCCI and the pattern-in-chief of its managing committee; he was in Dubai on an official visit. He had been president of the Karachi Chamber several times before and was a leading figure in Karachi’s business circles.
For his outstanding contribution for the economic development of the country and philanthropic work, Teli was awarded the Sitara-e-Imtiaz. He received Sitate-e-Imtiaz on 23 March 2011 from ex-President Asif Ali Zardari in recognition of his exceptional services for the promotion of Trade and Industry in Pakistan.
Following his demise the KCCI released a statement saying:
“As Chairman of the Businessmen Group (BMG), Siraj Teli is recognized for his extraordinary leadership of the Business and Industrial community over the past 19 years. He has brought about revolutionary and progressive changes in trade politics and in the functioning of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the SITE Association of Industry and other platforms of public service and social work. His purpose has always been to benefit the masses and to establish liaison with all tiers of the government to improve the economy of the country and life of the people of Karachi.
Siraj Teli’s services to the private sector, his efforts for the industrial development and his endeavor for the unity of the nation in general and business and industrial community in particular, his aggressive and creative plans to boost export and his contribution to the economic development of the country are indeed creditable and commendable that is why he was conferred with Honorary Degree of Doctorate of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) by the Faculty of Management & Social Sciences of the Institute of Business & Technology (BIZTEK).
He served has served on the boards of many government and semi-government organizations as a representative of the business community. These include SITE Limited, Land Utilization, Port Qasim Authority, Civil Aviation Authority Sindh Workers Welfare Board, Workers Welfare Fund, KESC and many educational institutions. He and his family make discreet contributions to many philanthropic causes.
Siraj Teli graduated from the Government College of Commerce & Economics, Karachi, in 1974. He spent the first eleven years of his career at Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Limited and Nakshbandi Industries, both family concerns in the textile sector. In 1985, he joined Pakistan Beverages Ltd. – another family business. The company enjoys the enviable record of introducing the first Pakistani local beverage ‘PAKOLA’, in as early as 1951.”
