Muhammad Asif Farooqi has over 26 years of experience in Human Resource Management, Administration and IT. He has worked with various National and Multinational companies in Pakistan including Daewoo and binder Inc.

Ms Kashmala Shahid is a seasoned communications professional with over 8 years of experience in media relations, strategic communications, policy advocacy, and international outreach. As the Executive Manager Operations at the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), she leads high-impact communication strategies, manages stakeholder relations, and drives strategic partnerships with international organizations, government bodies, and private sector leaders to advance Pakistan’s textile sector.

Ms Kashmala has coordinated flagship trade diplomacy events like the Cotton Brazil Outlook and the Pak-Uzbek Knowledge-based Exchange Programme, collaborating closely with global trade bodies, diplomatic missions, and industry stakeholders to strengthen bilateral trade ties and promote sustainable economic growth.

She oversees the publications, management of high level events for APTMA, alongside developing digital content; documentaries, visual campaigns, and media channel to enhance industry narratives and promote brand visibility. With a foundation in digital content strategy and graphic design, Kashmala effectively manages brand positioning, visual storytelling, and digital ecosystems, ensuring consistent messaging across platforms.

Working as Cotton Advisor for the supervision of all cotton R&D related activities in APTMA to revive cotton production in the country. He obtained his PhD from Bahauddin Zakariy University, Multan Pakistan, and University of Georgia USA in the Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics and Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, respectively. He is also a M.Sc. (Hons.) Gold Medalist from Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan. He is specialized in molecular breeding of major field crops and his core focus of research is cotton breeding for high yielding varieties having resistant against biotech and A biotech stresses competing the current environmental conditions along with superior lint traits from the sustainable supply of raw cotton to textile industry.

Dr. Javed is well renowned and internationally acclaimed cotton breeder. He has developed several high yielding cotton varieties which are being commercially approved and available to farmers through proper channel by Government of Pakistan. Bt Cotton varieties developed by him like SAHARA-120, SAHARA-150 is approved for general cultivation in Punjab and SH-BURAQ in Sindh. Recently his developed variety SAHARA-300 performed at number one in the yield at SPOT Examination trials where all new varieties are tested with the same production technology. Dr. Muhammad Javed is author of numerous research publications of scientific merit in well reputed national and international high impact journals. He has over 12 years of research, cotton breeding and industrial experience in various prestigious Research and Development organizations in Pakistan.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

1. Breeding for high yield, drought & heat tolerant, CLCuV tolerant, short duration and high lint percentage varieties of cotton
2. Breeding for salt tolerant varieties of cotton,
3. Exploration of sources for drought tolerance in cotton,
4. Identification of sources for hybrid program in cotton
5. Cotton Molecular Breeding
6. Cotton Breeding
7. CRISPR/Cas9 Technique
8. Gene Identifications

Research Project of PhD

“QTLs mapping linked with cotton leaf curl disease resistance and morphological traits in cotton using microsatellite markers”.

PAST experience

Head of Seed division and R&D Patron Group

He previously worked as Head of Seed division and R&D Patron Group Pakistan to perform following major duties for the period of about 12 years.

Asad Abbas Shah is a Research Economist and a professional employee with more than 3 years of working with APTMA. He played a key role in drafting Pakistan’s Textile Policy Proposals 2020-25 on behalf of APTMA. He is well versed in policy matters, conducting research, and preparing detailed policy reports.  He has written many articles in all leading newspapers advocating for the issues faced by the textile sector of Pakistan and has started to make his name among economists and policymakers.

He has been consistently performing well throughout the tenure of his career, and keeping the same in view, he has been promoted to the position of Senior Research Analyst with enhanced responsibilities by involving him in matters related to the power and gas sector. He has been dealing with the energy and gas sector issues for quite some time and has attained significant exposure in the field.

His areas of interest are energy economics, applied economics, and industrial economics. He is proficient in data handling & analysis, energy issues, and cotton-related matters. He has done his Masters and MPhil in Economics from Quaid-I-Azam University Islamabad.