Naeem Sarfraz is a former Naval officer, retired shipowner, businessman and philanthropist.
He joined the Pakistan Navy in 1959, where he served for 15 years. During his naval career, he had a variety of operational roles, including command of three warships and as Staff Officer to the Fleet Commander. Naeem participated in both the 1965 and 1971 India-Pakistan wars. He is a graduate of the Royal Naval College Dartmouth, and as a cadet, was part of the Royal Navy’s aid to civil power operations in British Guyana. He specialized in Navigation and Tactics at the Royal Navy School of Navigation, HMS Dryad.
After resigning from the navy in 1974, Naeem served as captain of several merchant ships. Eventually, he set up his own ship-owning business, based in New York, owning and operating a fleet of ships worldwide, which he ran for 16 years. He returned home to Pakistan in the early 90’s.
Naeem established the Fazaldad Human Rights Institute, which he chairs. He has written extensively in national newspapers, and spoken at numerous international conferences on security issues, as well as issues related to human rights.
Naeem has served on a number of government task forces and committees over the past 20 years. He was appointed Chairman of the government’s Task Force on the Maritime Industry to help revamp Pakistan’s ports and shipping. He is also the driving force behind a major national initiative to utilize Pakistan’s inland waterways for transportation.
He is Chairman and CEO of the Inland Water Transport Development Company (IWTDC), which is wholly owned by the Government of the Punjab. He conceived of and established the IWTDC with the support of the Chief Minister of the Punjab province. The mission of IWTDC is to create an inland water transport system along the corridor of Indus River from Port Qasim to Nowshera maintaining a reliable, safe, environment friendly and cheap inland water transport system for the economic prosperity of the country and its citizens.
He is Founder and Chairman of the Fazaldad Human Rights Institute (FHRI).