Born in 1949, Mr. Shafiul Islam Kamal, son of Late Alhaj Aftabuddin Ahmed, had his early education in science related subjects. He joined the Islam Group in 1968 to begin what was to become a successful career in the automotive as well as in construction, real estate business. In the early years, he gained valuable experience by being involved in the management of the Group’s diverse business operations. He played a major role in establishing Navana as the premier car company in Bangladesh, and later, in setting up Aftab Automobiles.
He was also responsible for the construction company named: Bengal Development Corporation (BDC) and he was directly responsible for the construction work of BDC in Middle East and from 1981 he was also taking care Eastern Housing Limited, then the largest real estate developing company in Bangladesh. In 1996, after the death of Mr. Jahurul Islam, the then Chairman of Islam Group, he separated from Islam Group with Navana Ltd. and Aftab Automobiles Ltd. and formed Navana Group. He has been the key person of the business of Islam Group and he was a person responsible to take care all problems and to maintain public relation with all the top politicians, bureaucrats, top military officials and other key persons. With the background and the amount of acceptability that he had, nobody else in this country enjoys that.
