Prominent entrepreneur PA Ibrahim Haji passes away

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Prominent businessman and founding chairman of Pace Group, a leading educational group in India and the Gulf, PA Ibrahim Haji, (78), passed away yesterday morning at a private hospital in India.

Haji suffered a cerebral haemorrhage while in Dubai on the 11th of this month and was undergoing treatment at Dubai Healthcare City.

Later, he was moved to MIMS Hospital in Calicut, Kerala, in an air ambulance, where he breathed his last.

Haji, who hails from the town of Pallikkara in Kasaragod in Kerala, was also the founding vice-chairman of Malabar Gold and Diamonds, vice chairman of Indus Motor Company, one of the directors of Muslim Printing and Publishing Company that brings out Chandrika.

Pace Group, a well-known name in the Gulf region, runs several engineering colleges in India and schools in the Middle East.

Born to Abdullah Haji and Ayesha on the 6th of September 1943, Haji moved to the UAE in 1966.

Haji started his remarkable career in the UAE as a salesman in the spare parts division of Austin (British Motors Corporation) and later went on to open several successful ventures in textiles, jewellery and garments.

Through Pace Group, he entered the educational sector in 1999.

The Group now employees thousands of teachers and staff and teaches 20,000 students from 25 countries.

Pace Group has operations in India, UAE and Kuwait.

In Kerala, Kannur RIMS International School and Manjeri Pace Residential School are educational institutions owned by Haji.

He was honoured with Pravasi Ratna Award in 2015 and the CH Award in memory of CH Mohammed Koya, the former Chief Minister of Kerala.

He had been nominated to the four-member board of governors of the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technology University.

His body was buried at Manjeri Vettekkad Juma Masjid graveyard.