ISLAMABAD, Jan 2: Government on Friday appointed former secretary to commerce ministry as member of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC), an official source told Dawn.

Syed Asif Shah was retired on December 22 in BPS-22 after rea-ching the age of superannuation.

Hailing from NWFP (Hazara), Mr Shah is from the District Management Group of the civil service and son of late justice Ghulam Safdar Shah who had served as chief justice of the Peshawar High Court and judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

As secretary commerce, he took a number of initiatives, including the creation of the Trade Development Authority as a successor to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), revamping of the trade bodies law and registration of all traders’ bodies under the new law and made insurance sector more active.