Mohammedmian Soomro hails from a renowned political family of Sindh that has been active in public life since 1923. His father, a deputy speaker of the West Pakistan Assembly and a member of the Senate was a seasoned parliamentarian who helped establish the Senate committee system.
Born on August 19, 1950, Soomro has three children. He secured a bachelor's degree with distinction from Forman Christian College, Lahore. He obtained a master's degree of in physics from Punjab University, followed by a master's in operations management from Northrop University, in the United States.
An internationally recognized professional banker, Soomro has held various top positions, both at home and abroad, in national and international organisations such as Bank of America.
He has also been general manager and chief executive officer of International Bank of Yemen, Faysal Islamic Bank of Bahrain, Muslim Commercial Bank, Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan, Federal Bank of Cooperatives and National Bank of Pakistan.
He won wide recognition for his pre-eminent achievements during his time with these organizations. He was also instrumental in establishing micro-credit banking in Pakistan.
Soomro is known for his strong interpersonal and leadership skills. He is well acquainted with national and sociopolitical and economic issues and has had vast exposure to political life since his college days.
Soomro's role in public life started with his appointment as a governor of Sindh in May 2000. During his tenure, he took a number of steps to bring about financial and administrative discipline, as well as to accelerate the pace of economic development in the province and bring about significant improvement in the quality of life of the general populace.
During his governorship, the people of Sindh witnessed stability and ethnic harmony. Merit, transparency and good governance were the hallmarks of his administration. This was acknowledged even by international donors. Under his leadership, the Sindh province became the first province in South Asia to be funded directly by the World Bank restructuring program.
He resigned from the office of Sindh governor in December 2002 to contest the Senate election. He was elected as chairman of the Senate in March 2003 for a three-year term and reelected in March 2006 for a second consecutive term.
Additional responsibilities held by Soomro between 1997 and 2000 as director of boards:
- Shell Pakistan Ltd.
- Pakistan International Airlines Corp.
- Pakistan Refinery Ltd. (Shell Petroleum Joint Venture)
- Pak Arab Refinery
- Pak Arab Fertilizer
- Bank Al-Jazira (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)
- National Investment Trust: Open-ended mutual fund in Pakistan with directorships on nearly 90 percent listed firms. 640 companies out of 730 companies on the stock exchange (with the directorships on 80 percent of the companies on the Karachi Stock Exchange)
- Investment Corp. of Pakistan: Series of Mutual Funds
- National Discounting Services Ltd.
- National Exchange Company, Abu Dhabi
- National Bank Modaraba Management Co. Ltd.
- First Women Bank Ltd.
- Consolidated Leasing Co.
- Pakistan Tourism Development Corp.
His family has been active in public life, holding several ministerial slots, speaker office and other key positions at various points of time.
