Born on the 1st day of March in 1963. Mr. Zafar is married to Ms. Salma Ahmed who graduated [did BSS (Hons) and MSS] from the Faculty of Social Science of the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. They have two daughters.

Experience:

Diplomatic Career
Mr. Md. Abu Zafar, a career diplomat, joined Bangladesh Civil Service (Foreign Affairs) in December 1991. During his 23 years of service with Government of Bangladesh, he served in different capacities at home and abroad.

Currently, he is serving as Ambassador of Bangladesh to Austria since December 2014. Immediately before this assignment, during his immediate past stint in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs he served as Director General of the East Asia and Pacific Wing and as Director General of the South East Asia Wing. In the past, he served as Director (Personnel, Policy & Organization) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Zafar also worked in different sections of the Ministry like East and West Europe, Administration, Legal, Treaty & Maritime (LTM) and South East Asia Sections as Senior Assistant Secretary and Assistant Secretary.

In Bangladesh Missions abroad, he served as  Consul General for Bangladesh in Dubai, UAE from Sept 2009-April 2013 and as Consul General for Bangladesh in the Pacific Coast of the USA (February 2007- August 2009). Mr. Zafar served in Bangladesh Deputy Embassy and Permanent Mission, Karachi as Counselor and Acting Deputy Embassy and Permanent Representative from Aug 1999 to June 2004 and in Bangladesh Embassy, The Hague as Second and First Secretary as well as Alternate Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) from August 1997-July 1999.

Career in other Services
Prior to his joining Bangladesh Civil Service (Foreign Affairs) in 1991, Mr. Zafar served as Assistant Post Master General in the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication from December 1990 to November 1991, and as Scientific Officer in Bangladesh Jute Research Institute under the Ministry of Agriculture from July 1987 to November 1989.

Academic Qualifications & Foreign Training:

Mr. Zafar did B.Sc. Agriculture (Hons) from Sher-e- Bangla Agriculture University in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He obtained Post Graduation Diploma in International Relations from International Institute of Public Administration (IIAP) in Paris, France. He did Master of Business Administration from Preston University, USA (Karachi campus).

In addition, he has had the following foreign trainings during his career:

• Four-week long Public International Trade Law Course at International Development Law Organization (IDLO), Sydney, Australia;
• Six-week long course on  Peacekeeping Operations in accordance with rules of law at Defense Institute of International Legal Studies(DIILS), Newport,  Rhode Island, USA;
• 4-week long International Trade Promotion Course at Singapore Foreign Trade Institute, Singapore;
• 4-week long International Public Law Course at The Hague Academy of International Law, The Hague, Netherlands.

Foreign Language Proficiency:

English, Urdu & French

Passion:

Reading books, fishing and playing cards.