Established: 2009, under Mayor Bill White
President: Haroon Shaikh
Contact Information: president@houstonkarachi.org
Website: www.houstonkarachi.org
The Houston community discussed the establishment of a Sister City relationship between Houston and Karachi with Mayor Brown during his administration. Meanwhile, a significant number of the community members facilitated several collaborative efforts between the two cities that include business collaborations and exchange of trade delegations. These efforts further solidified the cultural and trade ties between the two cities and led to direct economic development in the two cities. Since then, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) started bi-weekly flight service between Houston and Pakistan. The flights have been temporarily suspended due to PIA’s internal fleet related issue. Many Houston-based companies have established or expanded offices in Karachi, while the Pakistan presence in Houston has also grown significantly. In June 2004, to facilitate the needs of the ever-growing Pakistani American community in the greater Houston metropolitan area, the Government of Pakistan established a Consulate General in Houston. Based in Houston, the Consulate has the responsibility for a 6-state region.
Although the possibility of the Sister City Program was discussed, due to the unfortunate events of 9/11, no action was taken on this matter. Even though no formal agreement was ratified between the two cities, citizens of the two cities continued and built on these efforts. These efforts and collaborations included but were not limited to Council Member M.J. Khan visiting Pakistan and meeting with the Governor of Sindh and the Mayor of Karachi. In May 2008, Mayor of Karachi Mustafa Kamal visited Houston as a guest of the United States Department of State. During his visit, Mayor Kamal discussed the idea of formalizing the Sister City relationship with Mayor Bill White and Council Member M.J. Khan. A ‘Partner in Trade’ agreement was signed between the two cities during this visit. Council Member M.J. Khan then facilitated a meeting of the Houston-Karachi Sister City Association committee encouraged everyone in the local community to get involved in the process and present a formal proposal to the City of Houston to finalize the Sister City relationship. The Houston-Karachi Sister City Association committee members asked Mr. Haroon Shaikh to coordinate the efforts of the committee. The committee has prepared and presented the enclosed proposal to the Houston International Protocol Alliance.
Because of the agreement, Houston and Karachi will further increase bilateral trade as well as social and cultural ties between the two sister cities. The realization of this relationship would increase awareness of the contributions made by each member city, and the need to continue promoting each other.
Find out more about Karachi, Pakistan