Dr Wali Tasar Uddin
President
European Bangladesh Federation
of Commerce and Industry
Dr Wali Tasar Uddin MBE DBA is respected both throughout Europe and Bangladesh countries and the rest of the world. President of European Bangladesh Federation of Commerce and Industry, Wali is well known for his acumen in the restaurant profession. With his portfolio including the famous Verandah restaurant, Lancers restaurant and his most recent venture, Britannia Spice restaurant, Dr Uddin has extensive interests in the commercial world. Dr Uddin’s contribution to the restaurant sector was recognised in 2006 with BIBA’s Industry Personality of the Year award as well as the Asian Jewel Lifetime Achievement award. Dr Uddin is also an active director of the Edinburgh & Leith Chambers of Commerce, the Institute of Directors and Rotary International. Chair of the University of East London Business School Advisory Board, Wali is also a Director of the Council of the Foreign Chambers of Commerce in the UK and a founder member and Director of Britain in Europe. The Junior Chamber voted him Young Scot of the year in 1992. This success in the business world has brought recognition from many sides. In 1984, Dr Uddin was the first Bangladeshi in Scotland to be made a Justice of the Peace. In 1993, he was appointed as the first Honorary Consul-General of Bangladesh in Scotland and in 1995 he was made a Member of the British Empire for his services to race relations.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and, in 2003, was included in Debretts’ People of Today. In 2000 he was awarded a Doctorate in Business Administration (Honouris Causa) by Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. 2007 saw Heriot-watt University award Wali a Doctor of Letters, D. Litt., and Edinburgh’s Napier University award him Doctor of the University, D. University. Respected as a community leader in Scotland, Dr Uddin chairs the Council for Bangladeshis in Scotland, was a founder of Edinburgh’s Central Mosque and is a director of the Shahjalal Mosque and Islamic Centre. Dr Uddin is also Chairman of the Commonwealth Society of Edinburgh and the BanglaScot Foundation. He is a Director of the Edinburgh Mela, the vibrant festival founded by Edinburgh’s South Asian communities, and the Edinburgh Bangladesh Samity.
In 2006 alone both BIBA and the British Curry Awards named it Best in Scotland.
Having been educated in Moulvibazzar, Wali travelled to the UK in 1967 where he started working in restaurants in London and entered further education. In 1976, having gained sound experience in the catering profession, he moved to Edinburgh. President of the European Bangladesh Federation of Commerce & Industry (EBFCI) As Chairman of the Bangladesh-British Chamber of Commerce, Dr Uddin was key player in the success of Expo Bangladesh 2005 – the UK’s first single country trade fair for Bangladesh. This pioneering initiative by the BBCC was to promote trade and investment between the UK and Bangladesh. A hundred companies from Bangladesh were represented alongside UK-based organisations with an interest in Bangladesh’s export trade and non-resident Bangladeshi businesses in the UK. Now the EBFCI is expanding its interest into other European countries under Dr Uddin’s leadership. In Bangladesh, Dr Uddin’s efforts have touched thousands of people over the years.
In 1991, following the disastrous cyclone, he was instrumental in raising over £140,000 which was used to build a concrete cyclone shelter and Baharchara-Ratnapur High School. Then in 1998 he was involved in raising over £220,000 to enable Onneyshan to oversee the construction of a model village and training centre. Dr Uddin is also Chairman of the Sylhet Women’s Medical College and Hospital, Director of Syleht Dental College & Hospital, a Trustee of the Bangladesh Female Academy and an advisor to the Atish Dipankar University of Science & Technologies in Dhaka.
Dr Wali Tasar Uddin is very friendly and energetic person. He always thinks about the welfare of other people. He says, if we want to make the world peaceful, we all should think about well-being of each other. https://business-america.com/
