Ahsan Zafar Syed is the CEO of Engro Fertilizers Limited, Pakistan’s premier seed-to-harvest solutions provider and a subsidiary of Engro Corporation Limited.
Ahsan started his professional career with Engro (then Exxon Chemical Pakistan Limited) more than 30 years ago. As a proud alumnus of NED, he has vast experience of leading multi-billion-dollar, mega-scale projects and stakeholder management to achieve several notable milestones for Engro.
He played a key role in the construction of the USD 1.1 Billion EnVen Project, the world’s largest single-train urea plant, for Engro Fertilizers. After EnVen’s commissioning, in 2011, Ahsan spearheaded the operations of Pakistan’s largest rice processing facility in Muridke for Engro Eximp Agriproducts. Since 2014, Ahsan has been the bedrock of Engro’s Energy vertical, responsible for taking the Thar project to commercial operations in 2019 and developing a path for the company to operate in a liberal market using renewable fuels as the source. He served as the CEO of Engro Energy, overseeing investments, operations, and business development at Engro Powergen Qadirpur Limited (EPQL), Engro Powergen Thar Limited (EPTL), Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC), Engro Energy Services Limited (EESL), and Siddiqsons Energy Limited. By establishing the CPEC-endorsed Thar power and mining projects under his leadership, the Engro Energy vertical has been able to successfully unearth Pakistan’s large coal reserves in Thar and contribute significant foreign exchange savings for the Country’s progress.
Additionally, Ahsan is Chairman of the Board of Elengy Terminal Pakistan Limited and serves on the Boards of Tenaga Generasi Limited and Engro Elengy Terminal (Pvt) Limited. He has served as Convenor of the “Light Engineering Sector” at the Engineering Development Board of Pakistan as well.
As a visionary who is passionate about advancing the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) agenda, Ahsan has championed various programs to increase women's representation at Engro and develop them as future leaders. A true practitioner of socially responsible business practices, he is also passionate about community welfare and enhancing industry-academia linkages to upskill the talented youth of Pakistan.
Ahsan earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the NED University of Engineering and Technology and subsequently pursued a post-graduate degree in the USA. He has also completed executive programs at INSEAD.