Saeed Sheikh Becomes President of the Houston-Karachi Sister City Association

Outgoing President Haroon Shaikh Gives Presidential Pin to Saeed Sheikh

Board of Directors of HKSCA

The Annual Meeting of the esteemed Houston-Karachi Sister City Association (HKSCA) was held at Bijaan Restaurant in Houston, in which the outgoing President Haroon Shaikh, by putting the prestigious pin of the association on the color of Saeed Sheikh, announced the results of the elections of HKSCA, in which the Executive Board and Members of Board of Directors got elected unopposed for the two years tenure. It must be mentioned that in the past whenever Saeed Sheikh has taken any responsibility in the community, his performance has always been diligent. HKSCA started in the Year 2009 when the the Mayor of Houston Bill White and the then Nazim-e-Aala of Karachi Mustafa Kamal signed the enactment papers.

The Executive Council members, who are also members with 6 others on the Board of Directors, and Committee Chairs (who have been appointed by the incoming President) include:

Saeed Sheikh President; Dr. Barkat Ali Charania Vice President; Salman Khan General Secretary; and Azam Akhtar Treasurer – Other 6 Members of Board of Directors: M. J. Khan; Haroon Sheikh; Nasru Rupani; David Godwin; Mohammad Zaheer; & Syed Neiyyar Izfar –Chairpersons Public Relations Khalid Kazi; Trade & Commerce Sajjad Sheikh; Professional/Technical Dr. Farooq Baloch; Publications Amir Maqsood Khan; and Liaison M. Amir Khan.

Present on the occasion were Ellen Goldberg President Sister Cities of Houston; Farah Ahmed Candidate for the City of Sugar Land Council; Alma Maldonado Coordinator sister cities City of Houston, Ruhi Ozgel, President the Houston-Istanbul Sister City Association; Jerald Broussard, President the  Houston-Perth Sister City Association;Jensen Shen of Greater Houston Partnership,Albert Cheng from Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison Office,Pete Leal from Congressman Al Green office,Major Najmi & Jamshed Warsi of MQM, Dr. Aziz Siddiqi President of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston; Khalid Khan Manager Sam’s Club; Members of Pakistani Media Tariq Khan & Mohammad Jamil Siddiqui of Pakistan Chronicle/Pakistan Journal, Shamim Syed of Pakistan News, Ilyas Choudry of Muslim Observer and Najam Shaikh Pakistan Times; Community leaders including P.J.Khan Swati President PCC-USA, Sajjad Burki of Pakistan American Council of Texas; Dr Moin Butt of Al Shifa Foundation,Gul Faraz Khan Hazara Foundation; Khalid Khan & Ghulam Bombaywala Former Presidents of Pakistani-American Association of Greater Houston; and many others.

Election results were announced by the Honorary Legal Counsel Syed Neiyyar Izfar, who informed that according to the Charter-&-Bylaws of HKSCA, the Board of Directors can be elected for two 2 years terms. All the members of the existing board have been elected a second time, as such next time in 2013; a totally new Board will be required. Idea is to infuse new blood.

Ellen Goldberg President Sister Cities of Houston informed that at the recent international conference of Sister Cities Association in Arlington, VA, there was much talk about the Houston-Karachi Sister City Association.

Outgoing President Haroon Shaikh informed about the accomplishments and programs of HKSCA over the past two years, especially informing that the City of Houston Fire Department sent $1.20-million fire equipments to their counterparts in Karachi through HKSCA. “Even if this effort saves one life in Karachi, we have accomplished what we will achieve what we were looking,” added Haroon Shaikh.

Former City of Houston Councilperson M. J. Khan said that HKSCA is going through the difficult infancy stage, and the people, who have started this need to be applauded, as they are working hard every day to take it to the next level. He congratulated Saeed Sheikh and said that his leadership will make HKSCA a shining example to be emulated by other Sister City Associations. He also informed that there is Chicago-Lahore; and Toledo Ohio – Hyderabad, Sindh Sister City Associations.

Saeed Sheikh, the new President, thanked everyone, and gave his plan for the next two years, by announcing to increase the cooperation at community level; efforts to improve health care; and enhance trade between Houston and Karachi, as both the cities are lifelines of the respective countries being thriving port cities  

Sister Cities International (SCI) is a non-profit citizen diplomacy network creating and strengthening partnerships between U.S. and international communities. SCI’s goals are to increase global cooperation at the community level, promote cultural understanding, and stimulate economic development.

The sister cities concept was launched in 1956 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed linking American cities with cities in other countries to exchange people, ideas and cultures.  President Eisenhower’s goal was to involve individuals at all levels of U.S. society in personal diplomacy in the hope that these people-to-people relations would lessen the chance of future world conflicts.

For membership & info contact Saeed Sheikh 281-948-1840 or E-Mail sluvfss@yahoo.com.

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