Syed Shahed Reza

Syed Shahed Reza is the general secretary of the Bangladesh Olympic Association^[1] and former ambassador of Bangladesh to Kuwait and Yemen. He is a former president of Dhaka Club.^[2]

Early life

Reza was born on 1 January 1952.^[3] He has a bachelor's in political science and a master's in public administration from the University of Dhaka.^[4] His father in law, Syed Haider Ali, was a member of the first parliament of Bangladesh from the Awami League.^[5]

Career

Reza worked for Parsons Corporation in Saudi Arabia working at the Saudi Government Royal Commission for Yanbu Project.

Reza joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 9 June 2009 with the rank of secretary; a part of a series of contractual appointments to top posts by the recently elected Awami League government.^[6] Reza was appointed ambassador of Bangladesh to Kuwait in August 2009 for a three-year term.^[4] He succeeded Major General A. I. M. Mostofa Reza Nur.^[7] He presented his credentials to the Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in October.^[8] He worked to issue machine readable passports to the Bangladeshi expat community in Kuwait.^[9]

Reza's appointment as the ambassador of Bangladesh to Kuwait was extended for one more year in 2012.^[4] He was succeeded by Major General Ashab Uddin.^[7] He had been in the executive committee of the Bangladesh Olympic Association for 11 years before he was elected general secretary of it in 2012 unopposed.^[4][10] He was awarded the National Sports Awards in 2014.^[11]

In December 2015, Reza was elected president of Dhaka Club Limited defeating Khandkar Mashiuz Zaman Romel.^[12]

In 2021, Reza sponsored Muhammad Yunus, Nobel laurate and founder of Grameen Bank, for an Olympic laurel.^[13][14] In December, he was re-elected secretary general of Bangladesh Olympic Association for a third time.^[15] While Chief of Bangladesh Army, General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed, was elected president of the association.^[16]

Reza is a director of The ACME Laboratories Ltd.^[17] He is a member of the International Relations Committee of the Olympic Council of Asia.^[3] Bangladesh High Court appointed him to Envoy Textiles Limited, a subsidiary of Envoy Group, as an independent director.^[18] He is the managing director of SMP Trading Co.^[19]

In 2023, Reza invited Husain Al-Musallam, president of World Aquatics, to visit Bangladesh which he did in March.^[20]