Javed Saifullah Khan

Mr. Javed Saifullah Khan is a globally acclaimed business leader with comprehensive expertise in introducing new projects in emerging markets. He served as the Chairman of Saif Group for over three decades until January 2026. Currently, he is the Chairman of the Boards of Directors of Saif Energy Limited, Saif Textile Mills Limited, and Kohat Textile Mills Limited, which are publicly listed companies. He also serves as the CEO of Saif Power Limited.

Under Mr. Khan’s leadership, Saif Group successfully established new businesses and developed projects in different sectors, including Telecom, Power Generation, Healthcare, Textile, Information Technology, and Real Estate development.

He is credited with launching Mobilink (now Jazz), the first-ever GSM cellular company in the subcontinent, in a JV partnership with Motorola. Jazz is now the leading cellular company in Pakistan, with 75 million subscribers, among whom 57 million are 4G subscribers. Mr. Khan was the first Chairman of Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited (PMCL) and continued to serve in this position until 2003. Later, he served as a Board Member of PMCL until 2014.

He also envisioned the establishment of Pakistan’s first private-sector undersea fiber-optic cable system, spanning 1,300 km between Pakistan, Oman, and the UAE, under the company Trans World Associates (TWA). TWA was then a JV project of Saif Group, Orascom Telecom Holding (SAE) of Egypt, and the Omzest Group. Mr. Khan now serves as an Advisor to TWA’s Board of Directors.

His efforts also led to the development of the Mediterranean Textile Company in Egypt as a JV between Saif Group and local Egyptian partners. MTC produces yarn for the premium segment of the European shirting market and is one of Egypt’s top two exporters in the textile-spinning industry.

It was Mr. Khan’s vision to establish Saif Power Limited (SPL)’s power plant, with a gross capacity of 225 MW, to help reduce power outages in Pakistan. He directly oversaw the establishment of the project. SPL’s combined-cycle efficiency was among the highest in Pakistan for a plant of its capacity at the time. The thermal combined-cycle power plant, which commenced commercial operations in April 2010, was completed in a record time of 30 months.

Under Mr. Khan’s leadership, Saif Group established the state-of-the-art Kulsum International Hospital, located in the heart of Islamabad. The hospital has been providing international-standard healthcare services in Pakistan since 2011.

Mr. Khan has served two terms as Chairman of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA). He has also served as a Member of the Board of Directors of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), a Board Member of Habib Bank Limited, and a Member of the Board of Investment, Government of Pakistan.

He represented Pakistani employers at ILO meetings in Geneva twice, led an APTMA delegation to the ITMF conference in Cairo in 1984, and represented Pakistan at a textile quotas conference in Berlin in 1984. He was also a member of trade delegations to Uzbekistan and Australia. As a member of the Prime Minister’s entourage, he visited the USA, China, Germany, and Italy.

In recognition of his expertise in Pakistan’s corporate sector and his dedication to successfully attracting foreign direct investment to Pakistan, the Government of Pakistan awarded Mr. Khan the prestigious Sitara-e-Imtiaz, one of Pakistan’s highest civil awards, in 2007.

Mr. Khan has a strong commitment to social welfare and actively pursues philanthropic initiatives through the Akbar Kare Institute. Previously, he carried out his social-welfare activities through the Saifullah Foundation for Sustainable Development (SFSD), a private NGO founded by his late mother, Begum Kulsum Saifullah Khan (Hilal-e-Imtiaz). SFSD served underprivileged communities across Pakistan through several landmark projects, including a Women & Children Hospital, a Computer Centre, the Saifullah Khan Trust, and the SFSD Scholarship Programme.

Mr. Khan is also an avid golfer and plays regularly. In addition, he played tennis competitively until his university years.

Mr. Khan graduated with a BA in Economics & History from Carnegie Mellon University and went on to receive his MBA from the University of Pittsburgh in 1973.