CEO of the Year Awards 2026 | 15 For a little over nine months now, Mohsin Khawaja has been at the helm of Pakistan’s Iqbal Group of Companies, in a role that sees him lead a diversified enterprise uniting four impactful businesses spanning poultry production, trading, exports, and agri-food innovation. Whilst he may be relatively new to this position, Mohsin is backed by more than 15 years of experience working across the likes of agribusiness, poultry, exports, and more. On the back of his recognition within the pages of this programme, we spoke with Mohsin for more on both the role and his career. Based in Lahore, Iqbal Group of Companies (hereafter called IGC) is a vertically and horizontally integrated poultry and diversified agri-business working across Pakistan and increasingly on an international level. The enterprise covers the entire poultry value chain – from producing feed to distributing eggs – and is rapidly introducing new products across the chicken-and-egg sector. This is just the beginning, with IGC’s work also covering agri-commodities and food exports, as well as feed additives and livestock solutions. Exploring some of the things setting IGC apart in this space, the group is distinguished as a result of the end-toend value chain control it offers, which ensures consistent quality by covering the areas of traceability and biosecurity. It also rigorously adheres to global standards including ISO 9001:2015 and is both halal and kosher, as well as integrating environmental responsibility measures. All of this has seen it secure foreign investment direct from the Netherlands, underpinning the trust people have in its governance and systems. Across the four companies comprising IGC, what shines through is the structured agricultural ecosystem it operates atop of, as well as the shared values of respect, performance, trust, quality, and sustainability, which are cornerstones of the group. Such alignment has resulted in IGC working towards the overarching vision of being recognised as the most impactful and diversified agri-business in Pakistan – an operation renowned for raising the bar on an international scale when it comes to the likes of innovation, integrity, and ethics. “Values at IGC are not just statements. They are measurable operating standards.” IGC’s ability to embody these high standards comes from CEO Mohsin Khawaja, whose road to the role has been shaped by a unique combination of operational immersion, success in financial structuring/capital allocation, and an ability to implement and manage long-term strategy. Besides this, Mohsin is highly skilled across areas including international trade negotiation, supply chain optimisation, and ESG-aligned growth modelling, with many of these skills honed during his time at the head of Mahmood Group of Industries. Whether in this current position or across any of the other executive and board-level roles Mohsin has occupied over the last 14 years or so, an unchanged theme for this CEO has been his approach to leadership. Having adopted a style that is composed, structured, and focused on the longer term from the start of his career, Mohsin’s strengths today include making decisions calmly under pressure, setting a clear direction, and aligning his teams through the likes of transparent communication and measurable KPIs. Nurturing partnerships is another key element of Mohsin’s approach to his CEO duties, with this focus on lasting credibility over short-team gain being the same irrespective of whether he is working with an international partner, a domestic farmer, or a trading client. Mohsin explained: “Internally, this discipline is embedded via performance dashboards, cross-company alignment, and measurable targets across feed, egg, broiler, export, and trading verticals.” This helps ensure everyone is working towards the same end goals. Given the poultry and agribusiness markets in Pakistan are currently defined by challenges such as price fluctuations and regulatory unpredictability, IGC is having to continue to evolve its operation to stay ahead of the curve and take advantage of the opportunities stemming from growing interest in sustainability-led investments and the increasing global demand for certified poultry. To this end, Mohsin and his team are looking to expand their solutions, reach more markets, and double down on their sustainability initiatives going forwards. As a result, Mohsin expects Iqbal Group of Companies to be standing as a benchmark Pakistani agriculture conglomerate within the next five years, to be a trusted export brand dominating the global markets, and to have refined its industry-leading model of governancedriven agribusiness transformation. With Mohsin here to oversee all of these initiatives, the future is incredibly bright for both the wider group and its CEO, both of which we are delighted to honour through titles in our APAC CEO of the Year Awards 2026. Contact: Mohsin Khawaja Company: Iqbal Group of Companies Web Address: https://iqbalgroup.com/ Integrated Poultry & Agri Commodities CEO of the Year 2026 (Pakistan): Mohsin Khawaja & Agri Export Excellence Award 2026 Iqbal Group of Companies
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