Syed Ali Naseer, Chief Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Officer, Jazz and Jordan Condo, Group Director, Corporate and Public Affairs, VEON Ltd. visited the Suleman Dawood School of Business (SDSB), LUMS on October 11, 2017 and met faculty and students for a session on ‘Public policy in the digital age.’
Dr. Atif Saeed Chaudry, Assistant Professor, Finance and Director MBA Programme appreciated the speakers for taking time out and sharing their experiences with LUMS students. Speaking about the session, he said, “This session is especially relevant for students as the Telecom industry is now moving towards financial services and other innovative products. The evolution and development of industry is dependent on the policy governing the industry. Given this, the understanding of such issues creates an understanding and appreciation of laws, policies and the response to these laws by the industry.”
Addressing the students, Mr. Naseer said, “I am sure many of you will become entrepreneurs and I have seen that successful business people come up with great ideas and they focus on how to scale the concept and the idea but sometimes they lose sight of the much larger picture on strategy and policy environment. So keep the laws and policies in view as you expand your business.”
Mr. Naseer joined Jazz as Chief Regulatory & Corporate Affairs Officer in April 2016. Previously he was working with British American Tobacco (BAT), where he was most recently based in Hong Kong heading the Corporate & Regulatory Affairs function for Asia Pacific. Prior to joining BAT, he spent 12 years with the Government of Pakistan in different roles performing field and staff assignments in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Mr. Naseer has a post-graduate degree in Development Studies from SOAS, and an undergraduate degree in Economics from the London School of Economics & Political Science, both at the University of London.
In his long and varied career, Mr. Naseer has dealt extensively with issues of public policy, regulatory and stakeholder management, external and internal communications, sustainability, and advocacy on fiscal issues.
Mr. Condo recently joined VEON Ltd. as Group Director, Corporate & Public Affairs. He is focused on supporting the implementation of the Group’s public affairs strategy, tactics and messaging across internal and external touch points. Most recently Mr. Condo served as Expedia's Director of Corporate & Government Affairs for Asia Pacific, based in Hong Kong. Prior to joining Expedia, Mr. Condo worked at Uber, where he led Uber's public affairs team in Asia Pacific, including the Indian subcontinent from 2013-15, arguably the most regulatory and politically challenging years for the company. Previously, Mr. Condo served as Executive Director and Advisor to the CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business lobby, and as a practicing attorney in California.
Sharing his professional experiences, Mr. Condo said, “Working in Japan was my toughest experience to date. Japan has very strict laws that you have to adhere to. You are ostracised if you are branded a criminal, and you are publically shamed. Getting a license for any business, especially for a business like Uber, was very hard but it was my job to help the country manager of that region build up on the name, build up on the infrastructure and overcome obstacles that would allow him to grow and evolve by developing policies which complement that country’s rules and laws.”
