Don't compromise with values, ethics and quality: Latifur Rahman

Make no compromise with values, ethics and quality, appealed Transcom Group chairman and CEO Latifur Rahman to the younger generation, saying that such compromise may yield short-term profits, but not sustainable business.

Latifur Rahman said, “Bangladesh has made progress in business ethics, but still has a long way to go. There are big businessmen who misappropriate crores of taka from the banks and are flourishing. But you cannot be influenced by them. Money is certainly essential, but you will lose out if making money is your sole aim in life.”

Latifur Rahman was delivering a lecture as part of a series of talks on entrepreneurship development, organized by the Innovation and Incubation Centre of Daffodil International University (DIU) in Dhaka.

Two scholarships were announced at the programme, one in the name of Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain, who was killed in the Holey Artisan militant attack in Gulshan last July, and the other in the name of Latifur Rahman.

Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain, grandson of Latifur Rahman, sacrificed his life for his friends during the Gulshan terror attack. The participants at the Daffodil University programme stood in one minute of silence in respect of the departed Faraaz Hossain.

At the outset of his speech, Latifur Rahman said that now at home and abroad he was often recognized as Faraaz’s grandfather. It was a matter of pride.

Students of the entrepreneurship department presented Latifur Rahman with a sketch of Faraaz.  

The renowned entrepreneur shared with the packed hall of students his experiences from the beginning of Transcom, the ups and downs of business and the determination to move ahead.

The moderator of the programme asked the students, “How many of you here read Prothom Alo?”  Many raised their hands in response. He then asked, “Do you know who owns the paper?” Many replied that they didn’t. He then informed them that it was owned by the Transcom Group and Latifur Rahman. A group of students, members of the Prothom Alo readers’ group Bandhushabha, presented Latifur Rahman with a bouquet of flowers.