Sheikh Kabir Hossain (Bengali: শেখ কবির হোসেন) is a Bangladeshi businessman and a member of the Sheikh–Wazed family. He was the President of Bangladesh Insurance Association. He served as President of Association of Private Universities of Bangladesh.[1]
Hossain was born on 3 February 1942,[2] in Gopalganj District, East Bengal, British India.[3][4] His father was Sheikh Mosharraf Hossain (first-cousin of Sheikh Lutfar Rahman) and his mother was Rahela Khatun.[3] He completed his master's from the University of Dhaka.[3] His second-cousin was Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.[5]
Hossain worked at the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, Bureau of Statistics, and Sonali Bank.[3] He resigned from government job after assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.[3]
Hossain is the chairperson of Sonar Bangla Insurance Limited, Khan Shaheb Sheikh Mosharraf Hossain Foundation, Central Depository Bangladesh Limited.[3] He is the founding chairperson of Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College Hospital.[3] He is also the founding chairperson of Khan Shaheb Sheikh Mosharraf Hossain School and College in Tungipara, Gopalganj.[3] He is the chairperson of National Tea Company Limited.[6] In July 2005, he was elected director of The International Association of Lions Clubs in Hong Kong for a two-year term.[7]
On 16 September 2008, Hossain chaired a meeting of Tungipara Association which demanded that the caretaker government release of former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina from prison.[8]
On 15 December 2010, Hossain was elected chairman of Bangladesh Insurance Association.[9] He is a director of Channel 24 and launched its test transmission in August 2011.[10]
Hossain is the President of Bangladesh Insurance Association, a trade association of insurance companies in Bangladesh.[4] He asked Bangladesh Nationalist Party to not hold strikes due to their detrimental effect on the economy.[11] He is the chairperson of Fareast International University and non-profit H.E.L.P. (Health and Education for the Local underprivileged People).[4] He is the Managing Director of Kabico Limited.[4] He is also the Managing Director of Masuda Dairy Nutrition Limited.[4] In 2013, he was part of a panel formed by Dhaka Stock Exchange to investigate problems at the stock market.[12]
Hossain is the Chairperson of Association of Private Universities of Bangladesh, a trade association of private universities in Bangladesh.[13] He was reelected President of the Association in 2017.[14] He is the former chairperson of Bangladesh Red Crescent Society.[13] He is a former director of the Dhaka Stock Exchange.[13] He is a Trustee Board member of Bangabandhu Academy for Poverty Alleviation and Rural Development.[15]
Hossain was re-elected chairperson of National Tea Company Limited.[16]
In April 2021, Hossain was re-elected President of Bangladesh Insurance Association.[17] He has been serving as president of association since 2011.[18]
Hossain has described the imposition of 15 percent income tax on private universities by the Government of Bangladesh as "unacceptable" in July 2021.[19] He also sought the intervention of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to repeal the law.[20] He is a member of the Board of Governors of Bangladesh Open University.[21]
Hossain is married to Masuda Kabir and together they have three children.[2] His daughter is married to the son of BNP's former secretary-general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan.