Karachi Mayor Mustafa Kamal is world's 2nd best mayor

Karachi, Nov 10 (ANI): Karachi Mayor Syed Mustafa Kamal has won the distinction of being the world's second best Mayor for the year 2008, for his innovative urban planning, courting foreign investment, encouraging international ties, and boosting the city's tourism.

American magazine Foreign Policy chose Mustafa Kamal, besides Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit and Wang Hongju, Mayor of Chongqing, who stood first and third, respectively.

"No city globalises on its own, but with shrewd investments and smart urban planning, a mayor can help turn a regional player into a global powerhouse. Here's how three of the world's top mayors are climbing the ladder," The News quoted the magazine as saying.

About Syed Mustafa Kamal, it wrote that the mayor of Karachi was an unlikely poster child for innovative urban planning.

It said the 36-year-old Karachi Mayor governs a city that's more often in the news for religious violence than cosmopolitan ways. "But the hard-charging Kamal is looking to change all that. He's courting foreign investment, encouraging international ties, and boosting the city's tourism", added the magazine.

In a statement from London on Sunday, Mustafa Kamal said that all credit for this should go to his party MQM chief Altaf Hussain who, he added, selected the representatives from lower and middle class that represents 98 percent of the total population of the country.

It is also the recognition of the philosophy of MQM and the 30-year- long struggle of its leader Altaf Hussain, he added. (ANI)