Author: Salma Ahmed

Salma Ahmed-Eny to family and friends-was born Indira Salma Husain in Cambridge, UK. Her father, Syed Akhtar Husain, was then in the elite pre-Partition Indian Civil Service. After opting for Pakistan, Akhtar Husain transferred to the foreign service, and following a distinguished career spanning over two decades, retired as one of Pakistan”s senior-most diplomats. Her mother, Zakia Husain, belongs to an eminent landed family of UP (India) that traces its lineage back several hundred years. Salma started her business career as a relatively young woman, and set up her first industry in 1967. She followed this up by starting two more industries, but the high point of her career was the remarkable success she achieved in ship-breaking. It remains her proud achievement to have been the first woman ever to have done this. Winner of the prestigious Priyadarshini award for being Pakistan”s most successful woman entrepreneur in the fifty years since Independence (1947-1997), Salma is the founder-president of the Pakistan Association of Women Entrepreneurs (PAWE) and was the first president of the International Federation of Women Entrepreneurs (IFWE). She is also the President of the Women”s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WCCI) in Pakistan. To enable economic empowerment of women in Pakistan continues to be her greatest passion. Salma started public service in the 1970s, when she worked with selfless zeal for the rehabilitation of displaced Pakistanis from Bangladesh. She later entered politics, and joined the All-Pakistan Muslim League in 1977. She was appointed member of the party”s Central Working Committee, and was MNA from 1985 to 1988. Today, she continues to be an active member of the Pakistan Muslim League.