Samina Rizwan is Oracle Corporation’s Regional Manager for SAGE (South Asia Growth Economies) West. Part of Oracle Corporation Singapore Pte Ltd, SAGE represents six South Asian Countries – Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives. Samina is responsible for market development, revenue growth and finding ways of bringing relevant Oracle solutions to help government and business in these countries.
Samina hails from an Air Force family. Her father was amongst the early bomber pilots of the PAF, a decorated soldier and a successful military diplomat. Her husband, the late Air Cdre Rizwanullah Khan, was a gifted and versatile officer - a sword of honour winner, a best pilots trophy winner, a gold medallist in aerospace engineering, besides being an F-16 combat pilot. “Rizwan taught me the difference between a good professional and an exceptional one.”
The first real learning Samina says she ever did was when she joined the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Murree, and came under the tutelage of Sister Mary Andrew. “Forever am I grateful to Sister Andrew for the values that she instilled in me; love of literature, respect for all religions, appreciating friends and making an effort to build character.” Samina moved to Washington DC right after her ''O'' levels. Her father was Defence Attache with the Pakistan Embassy and did not have enough money to put her through college. So she earned and learned her way. “It taught me a lot about independence, the value of money, and my own ability to drive myself to intense levels of hard work. I acquired my present work ethics during those years when I paid my way through university in USA.” She graduated from The American University in Washington DC with a bachelors’ degree in Information Systems Management.
Samina Rizwan is a Trustee of Rizwan Scholars, a not-for-profit tertiary education project which grants scholarships for higher education to academically brilliant but economically challenged young Pakistanis. Samina is a Certified PMP (Project Management Professional) with the Project Management Institute of USA and is the first Pakistani woman to achieve this certification.
On Pakistan’s image issue Samina says that generally speaking it is sadly true today that being Pakistani in the international business community does indeed pose some challenges. “I am not sure if people realize how difficult it has become. I know that my colleagues at Oracle have learnt to respect and appreciate Pakistan because of me. It is my humble contribution to building the image of my country.”
On the professional front by the time Samina took over Oracle about four years ago, its technology was already the defacto standard for database and it was being used by over 400 licensed customers. A very serious issue was addressing the matter of unlicensed usage of Oracle products by organizations. “ Currently, the good news is that the market understands the strength of Oracle well. We have 600 customers in terms of database usage, and even our competition in the business applications space uses our database technology to enhance its software''s performance. These are exciting times for Oracle in Pakistan.”
Reading has been her life''s joy. Some durable favourites have been Shakespeare''s tragedies, Far from the Madding Crowd by Hardy, Jinnah of Pakistan by Stanley Wolpert, and her latest favourite The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. She never tires of watching Peter Sellers'' The Party. “I''m sure very few beat Peter Sellers, but there''s also Shahrukh Khan. It is impossible not to adore him.” Samina loves eastern attire. “Whether its shalwar qameez, saris, kurta pyjamas - it doesn’t matter - the more ethnic the better.”
On the issue of female empowerment Samina is brief and to the point. “First, it will take educating the Pakistani man. Then, it will take a lot of courage from the Pakistani woman to demand dignity and value for her being from her family and her community.”