Mayor of Karachi Wasim Akhtar in Houston addressed Community Meet & Greet Dinner hosted by HKSCA:
Report 1:
Mayor of Karachi Wasim Akhtar in Houston addressed Community Meet & Greet Dinner hosted by HKSCA:
Houston Karachi Sister City Association (HKSCA) put together a nice Meet & Greet Dinner featuring visiting Mayor of Karachi Wasim Akhtar.
At the Occassion Certificates of Proclamations were also presented to the Honorable Mayor Wasim Akhtar from the Offices of the Congresswoman Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, Congressman Honorable AL Green, and Mayor of Houston Honorable Sylvester Turner. Also Senior Staff Members of each of these Elected Officials gave Mayor Wasim Letters of Condolences on the demise of his Brother-in-Law.
Present on the occasion were the Executive and Board Members of HKSCA including President Muhammad Saeed Sheikh, Vice President Mohammad Zaheer, General Secretary Omar Khawaja, Treasurer Azam Akhtar, Public Relations Liaison Matloob Khan, and BOD Members Syed Nayyar Izfar & David Godwin.
In his welcome address, President of HKSCA Muhammad Saeed Sheikh informed about the good standing of the Houston Karachi Sister City Association among the other Sister Cities of Houston, having received two Sister City International Humanitarian Assistance Awards in 2011 and 2016, and December 13th, 2016 being declared as HKSCA Day in Houston. He said in 2017, plans are to send a large 40-Feet Container of Medical Supplies & Equipment worth $150,000+ for Public Hospitals in Karachi. Also HKSCA is working on putting together a High Level Trade Delegation to Pakistan, including Karachi to be led by the Mayor of Houston. For this purpose, HKSCA will need complete support of Honorable Mayor Wasim Akhtar, and also reactivation of the counterpart of HKSCA in Karachi called the Karachi Houston Sister City Association (KHSCA).
He added that Honorable Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner has sent his special message of good wishes to you Honorable Mayor Wasim Akhtar, and has asked that Mayor Wasim comes soon next time to Houston with a significant trade delegation.
Vice President Mohammad Zaheer introduced the Mayor of Karachi, and went through his elected positions since 1988, when he joined the Mutahaidah Qaumi Movement (MQM).
Honorable Mayor Wasim Akhtar thanked everyone for their profound condolences on the demise of his brother-in-law. He said Karachi is waiting for the complete powers to be given to the local bodies, and said 2017 will be a better year, as his administration will work for better economy of Kaarchi; as well as infrastructure and transportation projects. He appreciated the work of HKSCA, and said his Mayoral Office will provide complete support to the activities of HKSCA in Karachi.
Report 2:
Houston Karachi Sister City Association (HKSCA) hosted dinner reception featuring Mayor of Karachi Waseem Akhtar:
Karachi’s Mayor Waseem Akhtar has said that he appreciates the formation of Houston Karachi sister city association and the work done in this regard. He assured full cooperation with the group as the Mayor of Karachi.
He was addressing a reception in his honor by Houston Karachi Sister City Association. Houston City community leaders and officials were in attendance. Mayor Akhtar said that local city institutions are still waiting to be handed authority to local representatives from government. However, he said he think that 2017 will be a better year than last. He said that it will be his endeavor to improve Karachi’s economy, so that they can focus on City welfare projects including cleaning and other municipal services.
Houston Karachi Sister City Association (HKSCA) President Saeed Sheikh in his welcome address said that he is very grateful to Mr. Javaid Anwar CEO of Midland Energy for his generous support towards HKSCA which indeed is one of the most active organization, which can be gauged from the fact that this group is awarded twice by Washington based Sister Cities international for their performance. He said that recently Mayor Houston has proclaimed December 13,2017 2016 to be Houston Karachi Sister City Association day to honor the work done and receiving two Sister Cities International Award.. He said that our organization is sending a container of medical equipment with the worth of one hundred and fifty thousand for people of Karachi. This will be a gift for public hospitals in Karachi from Houston residents. Saeed Sheikh further said that exchange visits are also planned for trading groups in Karachi and Houston in 2017. He said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner wish to see trader’s delegation in the next trip of Mayor of Karachi.
Earlier in the event HKSCA Vice President Mohammad Zaheer introduced Mayor Waseem Akhtar to audience. Mayor Akhtar was also presented with Certificates of appreciation from Mayor Houston and Congressional Recognition from Congressman AL Green and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee through their liaisons Ms. Rachael Rodriguz and Ivan Sanchez. The event was moderated by General Secretary Omar Khawaja.Other in presence was Sister Cities of Houston officials, HKSCA Board members including General Secretary Azam Akhtar, Syed Nayyar Azfar, David Goodwin, ILyas Choudry, Matloob Khan. This event was planned within 24-hour notice during Holiday time as Mayor Akhtar came to Houston on a private visit on his brother in law’s death. A large number of community leaders and Media persons were in attendance despite the short notice. The event ended with a sumptuous dinner by Tampura Restaurant.
