Ambassador Farooq Sobhan is the Distinguished Fellow & Board Member of the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) ( former President & CEO) which was established in October 2000. BEI is an independent research institute committed to the development of the private sector in Bangladesh and which is involved in a variety of research projects relating to the improvement of the investment climate in Bangladesh, regional cooperation in South Asia, Indo-Bangladesh relations, Sino-Bangladesh relations, and also work on Counter Terrorism, Countering Violent Extremism and Counter Radicalization in Bangladesh. BEI under his leadership has played a leading role in strengthening Corporate Governance in Bangladesh.
Ambassador Sobhan was Executive Chairman, Board of Investment (BOI) and Special Envoy to the Prime Minister 1997-1999 and Foreign Secretary 1995-1997. He has also served as Ambassador/High Commissioner to India, China, Malaysia and the United Nations.
Ambassador Sobhan served as Chairman of the Group of 77 at the UN 1982-1983, and was Chairman, UN Commission on TNCs 1991-1992. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the South Asia Centre for Policy Studies (SACEPS), based in New Delhi and was Co-Chairman of the Coalition for South Asian Co- operation (CASAC) from 1994-2001. He was a visiting professor at the Elliott School for International Affairs at George Washington University in 2003, where he taught a post graduate course on South Asia. He is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the independent Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), established in Dhaka in September 2007. He played a pivotal role in the establishment of the SME Foundation and served on its Board during the period 2008-9.
Ambassador Sobhan has been a key-note speaker during the past twenty years at various international conferences. He has over the years served on a number of international panels and advisory committees. He was a Member of the International Advisory Committee of the Asia Society in the U.S. and the Round Table in the U.K. He also served from 2008-2011 as a Member of the International Commission on Migration and Development. He is a Patron of the Ramphal Centre in London. He chaired the Task Force established by the Asia Foundation in 2004 on “The US Role in South Asia”. He was invited to speak at the White House Summit meeting on CVE held in February 2015. Ambassador Sobhan has written extensively on international relations and Bangladesh’s foreign relations.