BORN: 29th August, 1949, Karachi, Sindh, Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
President Dr. Arif Alvi is a politician, dentist and parliamentarian.
Dr. Arif Alvi was sworn in as the 13th President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan on 9th September 2018.
President Dr. Arif Alvi is happily married with his wife Samina Alvi and they have four children, all married and settled with their families. President Dr. Alvi enjoys his grandchildren tremendously and considers them as one of greatest joys and pleasures of his life.
He used to play squash, cricket, hockey etc. in his younger days and now enjoys playing and watching casual games.
Dr. Arif Alvi introduced social media platform in the politics of Pakistan.
He also chaired the sub-committee of EVM’s, Digital Identification of voters and voting of overseas Pakistanis.
He strongly wishes to make Pakistan more advanced and innovative in regards to Artificial Intelligence, education, research and business opportunities in Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and Cloud Native computing and Internet of Things. He believes that the world is on the verge of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) that would change the overall outlook of the industrial working.
President Dr. Arif Alvi has always had keen interest in education and health sectors. Provision of basic facilities to the common man and uplifting the country’s image are very close to his heart. He considers people of Pakistan as the most precious asset and, therefore, accords special focus to human resource development in the country.
Moreover President Dr. Alvi has always supported and promoted educational and technological training programs for women all over Pakistan which led to the creation of "Women's Inclusion in Technology", a women's empowerment division in the PIAIC.
In 2018, he started the Presidential Initiative for Artificial Intelligence and Computing (PIAIC).
The privately funded not-for-profit educational initiative is launched to help promote education, research and business opportunities in Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and Cloud Native computing and Internet of Things. He believes that the world is on the verge of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) that would change the overall outlook of the industrial working.
One of the most important goals of the PIAIC is to provide a conduit for women to seek and find quality and affordable high tech training in most cities of Pakistan. This has resulted in creation of "Women's Inclusion in Technology", a women's empowerment division in the PIAIC.
His political career started as the President of the student union at the De’Montmonrency College of Dentistry in Lahore, Pakistan.
During General Ayub Khan’s Era, he was active in the student movement and fought for democracy in Pakistan. During one of the protests on the Mall Road in Lahore he was shot and wounded and proudly carries a bullet embedded in his right arm as a mark of his struggle for democracy in Pakistan.
He was the Jamaat-e-Islami candidate for Provincial Assembly in Karachi in 1979. However, elections were not held.
After sharing ideologies and interests with Imran Khan before PTI was formed, became a founding member of PTI in 1996 and became one of the few original authors of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party constitution.
Dr. Arif Alvi is a founding member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. He was appointed as the President of PTI Sindh Chapter in 1997 and contested the 1997 general elections as a provincial assembly candidate. In 2001, he was promoted to Vice President of PTI and later contested the general elections as a National Assembly candidate in 2002. In 2006, Dr. Arif Alvi became the Secretary General of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf until 2013.
In 2013 he was elected as a Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan.
Dr. Arif Alvi was sworn in as the 13th President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan on 9th September 2018 and in line with Constitution of Pakistan, he resigned from all the positions of PTI before assuming the prestigious office of the President.