PWC-RIYADH HONORS ITS MEMBERS TO OPF BOARD BY: FAIZ AL-NAJDI
PWC-RIYADH HONORS ITS MEMBERS TO OPF BOARD
BY: FAIZ AL-NAJDI
faizalnajdi@gmail.com
Pakistan Writers Club-Riyadh (PWC) hosted a select gathering in Riyadh to honor its three notable residents for having obtained coveted positions as the Executive Members to the Board of Governors of OPF – Overseas Pakistanis Foundation. Sanobar Sani – Vice President of PWC and a renowned photo-journalist was the chief host on this occasion.
The program was conducted by Choudhry Rehmat Ali the Secretary General of PWC. In his opening remarks, Choudhry Rehmat first of all welcomed all the invited guests to the program especially the special guest members of OPF Board of Governors, namely Shamshad Siddiqui and Mohammad Asghar Qureshi. Choudhry Khalid Mahmood – another OPF Board member - was also invited but he couldn't attend as he was away to Pakistan on an important private visit there.
In his welcome speech Sanobar Sani lauded the services of Shamshad Siddiqui, Mohammad Asghar Qureshi and Khalid Mahmood Choudhry – the three special guests on the occasion by virtue of being the Executive Members to the OPF Board of Governors – for their long and valued services to the Pakistani communities in Riyadh. He said he was personally honored to welcome them and the other distinguished guests for joining PWC in honoring the three pride of Riyadh. He reminded the distinguished OPF Board members about the problems faced by the expatriate Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia especially those parents who had to send their family back home as their wards couldn't continue studies here after the High School education. He urged them to work to get some sort of allocation of some special quota in the professional colleges for admissions of the wards of the expatriate Pakistanis.
Faiz Al-Najdi – the former President of PWC and now its Patron-in-Chief – also spoke very high of the special guests. He specially mentioned that it was a great honor for Riyadh for having sent three members to the OPF Board out of a total of eleven members worldwide. "It was also a coincidence that all three also represented the Pakistan Investors Forum (PIF) Riyadh. Khalid Mahmood Choudhry is the President of PIF; Shamshad Siddiqui is its Secretary General while Asghar Qureshi was a senior and a founding member of PIF", he added. He called upon the three distinguished members to the OPF Board to highlight their vision and mission for serving the OPF Board in their respective speeches. He also cautioned them to be mindful to the fact that now they had been entrusted with greater responsibilities to perform and that at the end of their tenure at OPF, the residents of Riyadh, for that matter the whole Pakistani community in the Kingdom, would reserve the right to demand report on their performance. At the end, he assured them of PWCs cooperation.
Asghar Qureshi – Chairman Qureshi Group of Companies and Chief Coordinator of PPP-Saudi Arabia - in his speech reminded that he was fully cognizant of his responsibilities as a member to the OPF Board. He assured that he would go to any lengths to protect the rights of the overseas Pakistanis and would always endeavor to voice their issues during the meetings at the OPF Board. He also updated the audience about his performance so far. In his speech he made special mention of his sustained struggle at the OPF meetings for establishing a Medical College for the overseas Pakistanis at Kotli-Azad Kashmir. He also apprised the audience of the many difficulties that they had to endure at the hands of the bureaucracy at OPF in getting their ideas and suggestions through to the agenda list.
Shamshad Siddiqui – Managing Director of Amaq Construction Company and the Middle East Coordinator of Muhibban-e-Pakistan – in his speech explained in details the functions, objectives and the mission of OPF. He made special mention about his role so far in the OPF Board meetings. He said he had successfully raised the issue of funds to be made available from OPF for construction of the new campus for the Pakistani School in Riyadh, the land for which was already purchased by the School management. He also cautioned the audience not to pin high expectations from them as the mandate with them was too restricted. Also that it was difficult to get things done so easily from the heavy-top of bureaucracy involved with OPF. He however assured all that all the three members to OPF Board from Riyadh were committed to the problems of the residents of Riyadh and of the other expatriate Pakistanis in the rest of Saudi Arabia. He promised they all will work hard to bring forth the problems and issues of the expatriate Pakistanis on the agenda list and make appropriate noises in that platform.
The program also included poetry recitation sessions from the renowned poets of Riyadh, namely Shaukat Jamal – the King of satire poetry in Riyadh and Engr. Syed Nehal Uddin – known for his romantic stints in poetry. Salim Kavish and Hafiz Abdul Waheed also spoke on the occasion highlighting the problems faced by the expatriate Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia in general and those in Riyadh in particular.
PWC President –Syed Bashir Ahmed -in his speech thanked all the three special guests for finding time to grace the occasion. He also thanked the other distinguished guests from the community and the journalists present for attending this special program by PWC to honor the OPF Board members. He assured the distinguished OPF Board members of unstinted support from the PWC. Finally he thanked Khadim-e-Harmain-Sharifain Malik Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz for his special support for the Pakistani community in the Kingdom by allowing them opportunities for hosting such get-together programs for the community here.
The program concluded with a sumptuous dinner for the invited guests.
