JWT Pakistan’s chief executive officer Mansoor Karim Shaikh makes Pakistan Power 100 list

JWT Pakistan CEO Mansoor Karim Shaikh has been named one of Pakistan’s most powerful and influential people in the inaugural Pakistan Power 100 list, alongside cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, Ehsan Malik, Chairman Unilever Pakistan and Lord Nazir Ahmed, a member of the House of Lords and the UK’s first Muslim life peer.

The Pakistan Power 100 was created by UK-based consulting company Carter Anderson Group, which publishes the Global Power 100. Over 33,000 nominations were received for the Pakistan Power 100, which was judged by a panel led by Pakistan-born investor and BBC’s “Dragon’s Den” star, James Caan.

The Pakistan Power 100 winner’s book, which was launched at a black-tie event in London on September 29, includes messages from British Prime Minister David Cameron and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, who describes the Power 100 as “role models” whose “remarkable achievements are a source of inspiration for other Pakistanis.”

“I am incredibly honoured and humbled to be included on this list,” said Shaikh. As Group CEO for JWT, Contract advertising and T-Media (a media buying house), Shaikh leads a team of 200 people in Karachi and Lahore.

Shaikh was nominated as Vice Chairman of the Advertising Association of Pakistan (AAP) in 2011. He is also an active member of the American Business Council of Karachi, and a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), a global network of CEOs, where he currently serves as the Education Chair of YPO’s Pakistan chapter. Shaikh is also an avid snooker player who has represented Pakistan at a regional level.

He rates his optimism as the biggest catalyst of change in his personal and professional life. “I believe that for Pakistan, the best is yet to come,” said Shaikh.

Shaikh is currently spearheading a group of business leaders to create a forum called the Positive Pakistan group, which will encourage people to share and publicise insights that underscore the many positives of living and working in Pakistan. “We urgently need to share these stories. These are facts that my countrymen tend to forget in the face of the daily crises facing them,” Shaikh said.