Farid Rahman has been elected as a new president of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Sciences and Technology in Pakistan (SOPREST), a parent body of Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology.

The first president of SOPREST was late Ghulam Ishaq Khan, former president of Pakistan, who was followed by Engr Shamsul Mulk, former caretaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister and Wapda Chairman headed the society for a period of 12 years.

SOPREST was created for espousing the cause of higher technical and engineering education in Pakistan in 1988 by Ghulam Ishaq Khan with the support of a distinguished team of professionals and civil servants.

The General Council of SOPREST has elected Farid Rahman who had remained an active member of GIK Institute General Council/Board of Governors for about 15 years.

Farid Rahman is an alumnus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, the London School of Economics, and Political Sciences (LSE) and the University of Peshawar.

He had joined the Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) in 1962 and served in various distinguished positions in the Government of Pakistan. Joining the UN in 1976 he held many senior positions in his 25 years international career.

Farid Rahman had headed UNICEF operations as Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, supervising UNICEF assistance to 16 Country Offices of the region. He also served as UNICEF Representative, to China, Mongolia, Sudan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. He was Director of the Planning office in UNICEF Headquarters at New York.

More recently, he has served the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as Minister for Finance, Planning and Development and Local Government. He was a Member of the Economic Advisory Council, and also served on Boards of various Public and not for profit organizations, including the Board of the Privatization Commission of Pakistan: Pakistan Telecom Limited (PTCL) and Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO).