Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, an independent director of Bank Asia Limited, has recently been elected as chairman of BA Express USA Inc, a fully owned subsidiary of the bank.

Chowdhury is a veteran banker with more than four and a half decades of banking experience, read a press release.

He started his career at Pubali Bank in 1977 as a Class-I officer and made his way up the ranks, ultimately being promoted to managing director and CEO (2006-2014) of the same bank.

Under his leadership, Pubali Bank transformed into an institutional role model among state-run private commercial banks and won the "Best Financial Institution" award, given by DHL and The Daily Star in 2009.

He played a significant role in channeling foreign remittances by successfully motivating expatriate Bangladeshis in different regions, including the Middle East, Far-East, West and East during his service tenure.

He had connections with exchange houses overseas and mobilised their remittances in the country.

Chowdhury is a former supernumerary professor at the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM), a board member and vice-chairman of the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB), and a board member of BIBM.

He is a general body member of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) and a member of the ICC Bangladesh Banking Commission.

He is engaged with a number of social organisations and trade bodies in different capacities and works as a resource person in different trainings and seminars, both at home and abroad. He also contributes articles to different newspapers.

He is an MA and a Diplomaed Associate of IBB.