President George Bush presents Distinguished Leadership Award 2019 to Javaid Anwar

Sister Cities International hosted the 2019 Annual Awards Dinner and Gala with Special Guest President George W. Bush. The gala was the culminating event of the Annual Conference Cities Mean Business held the evening of July 19 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Houston.

The gala featured a fireside chat with President Bush and Sister Cities International CEO Roger-Mark De Souza where the President gave revealing, witty and insightful perspectives about his time in office. As President Mr. Bush was Honorary Chairman of Sister Cities International. He shared his belief that citizen to citizen diplomacy fostered by Sister Cities International continues to be a powerful means to promote peace through business and cultural interchange.

A highlight of the evening was the awards ceremony. President Bush presented the Sister Cities International “Distinguished Leadership Award” to his good friend, prominent businessman and philanthropist S. Javaid Anwar. The President paid tribute to Mr. Anwar’s generous philanthropy that has benefited hundreds of people around the world.

Mr. Anwar is CEO of Midland Energy and chief patron of the Houston Karachi Sister Cities program. While accepting the Award Mr. Anwar thanked Sister Cities International for recognizing him with such a prestigious award and thanked President Bush for his friendship.

Earlier in recognition of the outstanding success & appreciation of the valuable contributions through unselfish public service for the welfare of the humanity, Mayor Sylvester Turner also honored Mr. Javaid Anwar with the “Honorary Citizenship” and conform him to be the Good Will Ambassador of the City of Houston.

The Sister Cities International Annual Conference was held for 3 days and was attended by over 600 delegates & Mayors from around the world. The Houston Karachi Sister City Association (HKSCA), one of the leading organizers of this Conference, and also the host of the 12 members delegation from Karachi, Pakistan lead by Mayor Wasim Akhtar.

Founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, Sister Cities International is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit which serves as the national membership organization for individual sister cities, counties, and states across the United States. This network unites tens of thousands of citizen diplomats and volunteers in nearly 500 member communities with over 2,000 partnerships in more than 140 countries. Our mission is to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation—one individual, one community at a time.