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Gemcon Group

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gemcon Group
Formation1979
FounderKazi Shahid Ahmed
HeadquartersDhaka, Bangladesh
Region served
Bangladesh
Official language
Bengali
Websitegemcongroup.com

Gemcon Group (Bengali: জেমকন গ্রুপ) is a Bangladeshi diversified conglomerate based in Dhaka. Founded in 1979 by Kazi Shahid Ahmed through Castle Construction, the group has expanded across engineering, organic tea, retail, seafood, jute, media, education, real estate, and sports.[1] It is a family-owned company; Ahmed's three sons, Kazi Anis Ahmed, Kazi Inam Ahmed, and Kazi Nabil Ahmed, serve as directors.[2] The group employs approximately 5,000 people and operates subsidiaries including Kazi & Kazi Tea Estate (producer of Teatulia Organic Teas), the Meena Bazar supermarket chain, Dhaka Tribune, and the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh.[3]

History

[edit]

Gemcon Group was established in 1979 when Kazi Shahid Ahmed founded Castle Construction in Dhaka. Ahmed, born 7 November 1940 in Jashore, built the group into one of Bangladesh's most diversified conglomerates over four decades, expanding from civil engineering into tea, retail, media, and education.[4][5] He died on 28 August 2023.[6]

It is a family owned company; Ahmed's three sons, Kazi Anis Ahmed,[7] Kazi Inam Ahmed, and Kazi Nabil Ahmed, are directors of the company.[8]

Kazi Shahid Ahmed was also the founder of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), a private institution integrating liberal arts and sustainability into its curriculum, inaugurated in October 2004.[9][10]

In 2000, the group established Kazi & Kazi Tea Estate in the Tetulia region of Panchagarh District — the first USDA-certified organic tea garden in Bangladesh. The estate's international brand, Teatulia Organic Teas, began exports to the United States in 2005 and is sold in the United Kingdom, Japan, China, and other international markets.[11]

Gemcon group provides annual awards for writers and poets through the Gemcon Sahitya Puroshkar, one of Bangladesh's most significant non-government literary prizes. It began in 2000 as the Kagoj Tarun Sahitya Puraskar and was renamed the Best Book Award in 2003, before taking its current name in 2007. In monetary terms it is among the largest non-government literary awards in Bangladesh.[12][13][14]

Gemcon Group owned Ajker Kagoj. It closed the newspaper with a one-day notice to its employees.[15] Kazi Anis Ahmed is the publisher of Dhaka Tribune and Bangla Tribune.[15]

In January 2020, Gemcon announced it was in talks to acquire Agora Super Stores and merge it with Meena Bazar. The merger would make Meena Bazar the biggest retail chain in Bangladesh.[16] Gemcon Khulna won the Bangabandhu T20 Cup in December 2020, defeating Gazi Group Chattogram in the final.[17]

During the tenure of the Awami League government, Gemcon Group was one of four companies that received a significant share of electricity pole procurement contracts under various projects of the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB). According to an investigation by Prothom Alo, Gemcon Group received contracts worth Tk 9.01 billion, representing approximately 17 per cent of total procurement value, supplying around 300,000 poles. Kazi Nabil Ahmed, a former Awami League MP for Jashore-3, could not be reached for comment at the time of the report.[18]

[edit]

In September 2025, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed two separate cases alleging money laundering and illegally amassing wealth against Kazi Anis Ahmed, chief executive officer of Gemcon Group, and his brother Kazi Inam Ahmed, director of the group. The cases remain under investigation; no verdict has been reached.[19] Kazi Anis Ahmed denied the allegations, stating: "We categorically deny any wrongdoing."[20] In connection with the proceedings, the court imposed travel bans on both Kazi Anis Ahmed (November 2025)[21] and Kazi Inam Ahmed (January 2026),[22] and ordered the ACC to seize shares across 36 Gemcon Group companies.[23] Gemcon Group is also among the industrial groups listed by Bangladesh Bank in its efforts to recover allegedly laundered assets through international legal firms.[24]

Businesses

[edit]

Gemcon Group operates across nine sectors through a portfolio of subsidiaries and affiliated entities.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "History". Gemcon Group. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  2. ↑ "Board of directors – Gemcon Group". Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  3. ↑ "Chairman's Message". Gemcon Group. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  4. ↑ "History". Gemcon Group. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  5. ↑ "Kazi Shahid Ahmed unveils a new novel". The Daily Star. 2019-01-27. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  6. ↑ "Gemcon founder Kazi Shahid Ahmed passes away". The Business Standard. 2023-08-28. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  7. ↑ "New Year's resolutions". The Daily Star. 2012-01-01. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  8. ↑ "Board of directors – Gemcon Group". Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  9. ↑ "ULAB – Gemcon Group". Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  10. ↑ Don, G. Sumdany; Hasan Shahed, Feeda. "Rendezvous with Dr. Anis Ahmed". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  11. ↑ "A tale of tea - from Bangladesh for the World". The Daily Star. 2018-09-11. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  12. ↑ "Proshanta Mridha wins Gemcon Sahitya Puroshkar". The Daily Star. 2018-11-10. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  13. ↑ "Winners of Gemcon Shahitya Puroshkar 2020 announced". The Daily Star. 2020-12-26. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  14. ↑ "Gemcon Literary Award '12". The Daily Star. 2012-05-28. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  15. 1 2 "Media: Between a rock and a hard place". The Daily Star. 2019-11-29. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  16. ↑ "Meena Bazar in talks to take over Agora". The Daily Star. 2020-01-30. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  17. ↑ "Gemcon Khulna clinch Bangabandhu T20 Cup". Dhaka Tribune. 2020-12-18. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  18. ↑ "REB 'Khamba' syndicate dominated by 4 companies with political ties".
  19. ↑ "ACC to sue Gemcon Group CEO Kazi Anis, his brother Kazi Inam over money laundering". The Daily Star.
  20. ↑ "Kazi brothers' capital abroad without BB nod". The Daily Star. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  21. ↑ "Court imposes travel ban on Gemcon Group CEO Kazi Anis". The Business Standard. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  22. ↑ "Travel ban on Kazi Inam Ahmed". Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  23. ↑ "Seizure of 4.26cr shares of 36 Gemcon Group companies ordered". New Age Bangladesh.
  24. ↑ "Bangladesh Bank advises banks to hire law firms to recover laundered money". Prothom Alo English. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  25. ↑ "Castle Construction – Gemcon Group". Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  26. ↑ "Gemcon Limited – Gemcon Group". Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  27. ↑ "Charka Steel Ltd – Gemcon Group". Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  28. ↑ "Organic Tea – Gemcon Group". Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  29. ↑ "A tale of tea - from Bangladesh for the World". The Daily Star. 2018-09-11. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  30. ↑ "Retail – Gemcon Group". Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  31. ↑ "A ray of hope for the jobless". The Daily Star. 2020-06-11. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  32. ↑ "E-commerce – Gemcon Group". Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  33. ↑ "Sweets – Gemcon Group". Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  34. ↑ "Real Estate – Gemcon Group". Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  35. ↑ "Jute – Gemcon Group". Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  36. ↑ "Sea Food – Gemcon Group". Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  37. ↑ "Herbal – Gemcon Group". Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  38. ↑ "ULAB – Gemcon Group". Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  39. ↑ "KSF – Gemcon Group". Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  40. ↑ "Sports – Gemcon Group". Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  41. ↑ "Gemcon Khulna Cricket Team". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  42. ↑ "Mashrafe joins Gemcon Khulna following lottery". The Daily Star. 2020-12-06. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  43. ↑ "Mukta mineral water now available at Meena Bazar". Dhaka Tribune. 2021-05-31. Retrieved 2021-12-04.
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