The country lost M Ghaziul Haque, chairman of MGH Group, founding director as well as chairman of Eastern Bank (EBL), and shipping pioneer, when he breathed his last in the small hours of Monday (Oct. 5) at the capital's Evercare Hospital. He was 92, according to a handout from EBL.

That same handout said his namaz-e-janaza was held at Gulshan Central (Azad) Mosque after Maghrib prayers, after which he was laid to rest at Banani Koborstan.

Ghaziul was hugely respected within the business community, perhaps for his unusually successful track record. Almost everything he touched turned to gold. MGH Group, domiciled in Singapore, grew into a multinational conglomerate with operations in more than 23 countries, but it came much later in his career as an entrepreneur.

His first foray in business came in 1980, when he joined as a partner in the Chattogram-based shipping company Aquamarine Ltd. A decade later, he and his partner formed Maersk Bangladesh Ltd, a joint venture with Copenhagen-based shipping giant Maersk Line. Haque served as chairman of the venture until 1997, making him a key figure in bringing one of the world's largest shipping companies (in fact then- and until recently-the biggest) into a formal local partnership in Bangladesh.

Ghaziul was also closely associated with the development of EBL. He joined the bank's board in 1993, a year after it began operations following the restructuring of the former Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) in Bangladesh. He went on to become one of the bank's longest-serving directors.

He served two terms as EBL chairman, from 2000 to 2006 and again from 2013 to 2018. Under his chairmanship, and led by Ali Reza Iftekhar, EBL emerged as one of the country's prominent private commercial lenders and was an early adopter of online and internet banking and modern card products.

MGH Group, which his son Anis Ahmed founded in 1992 with Ghaziul as chairman, has interests in integrated supply chain management, total cargo management (TCM) for low-cost carriers, global distribution systems for airlines, cross-border freight trains, satellite fulfilment centre (SFC) operations, FM radio, tea and rubber plantations, food and beverage, and commercial banking.

He is survived by his wife, Sultana Haque; son Anis Ahmed, incumbent chairman of EBL; daughter Anila Haque, who is an acclaimed fashion designer; and a host of relatives, friends, admirers and well-wishers.

Born in 1934, Ghaziul Haque graduated from Chittagong Government College before enrolling at the University of Dhaka in 1955. That same year, he began his professional career with the British company Bird and Co Ltd, as a student. He took on a full-time role at the company upon graduation from DU, and over the next 21 years, rose all the way to the position of managing director in 1976, when the company was transformed into Birds Bangladesh Limited.

Not long after that, Ghaziul goes into business. Though he found success at almost everything he turned to, he was universally admired for rejecting the trappings of his enormous wealth. Throughout his career, he played a significant role in the development of business and entrepreneurship in Bangladesh and the region. He commanded the respect of his peers as well as contemporaries.