Amirzai Sangin

Amirzai Sangin is the Minister of Communications in Afghanistan.

Born in Urgun, Paktika Province in 1949, Minister Sangin attended primary school in Urgun and secondary school in Gardiz. He graduated from Afghanistan's Telecommunications Training Center (TTC), and obtained an engineering degree from South London College in 1973.

He was an instructor at TTC from 1975-1978, and served as its Director from 1978-1980.

Sangin became a refugee in Sweden in 1980. As a founding member of the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, he has made significant contributions to Afghanistan's education, agriculture, and medical sectors over the last two and a half decades.

In 1982, Sangin joined Swedish Telecom. He worked for King Khaled International Airport in Saudi Arabia as a communications project team member from 1982-1985 and then, for the next five years, was involved in the design, development, and implementation of mobile networks in Sweden. A founding member of Swedish Telecom International (now called Telia International), Sangin was a leader in obtaining international bids, winning 8 GSM licenses in Estonia, Latvia, Russia, Hungary, Italy, Namibia, and India from 1990-2000. He has held several senior-level management positions in the establishment of highly successful companies.

Returning to Afghanistan soon after 9/11, Sangin initially carried out training for AWCC and MOC engineers. He headed the Ministry of Communications' evaluation committee for a GSM license in 2002, and in February 2003, became Senior Advisor to the Minister of Communications.

Sangin was appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Afghan Telecom in July 2004. As CEO, he worked to build the Afghan Telecom organization by developing new processes and procedures and improving issues of interconnection. He left this position to become Minister of Communications in 2006.

Reference

[http://www.president.gov.af/english/cabinet/bios/amirzai_sangin.mspx Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Office of the President]