Samir Hoodbhoy Speaks at OPEN
By A. H. Cemendtaur
Samir Hoodbhoy addresses members of the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs and Professionals
When it comes to the field of education in Pakistan Samir Hoodbhoy is a tall figure. He has provided valuable intellectual capital towards the building of BCCI Foundation for Advancement of Science and Technology (FAST), the Usman Institute of Technology , and the Hamdard Institute of Information Technology. It is my understanding that in the 90s and beyond for many NED graduates Samir Hoodbhoy's company Data Communication & Control (Private) Limited provided the stepping stone to a career in Electronics.
Samir Hoodbhoy was an OPEN ( Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs and Professionals) guest speaker on Thursday, September 23. Whereas, unfortunately, many of us wait too long to appreciate the work of a hero it was heartening to see around eighty people show up on a weekday to listen to Samir Hoodbhoy.
A lot of credit for the good attendance goes to Shahab Riazi, OPEN's relentless promotion/marketing manager.
In the first part of his address Samir Hoodbhoy talked about the importance of individual efforts and how such efforts have the potential of eventually materializing into something much bigger -- a young Dr. Abdus Salam hooking up with an advisor of the then US president and getting US help for water-logging problems in Pakistan; Samir Hoodbhoy, Naeem Zafar, and others writing a policy paper and ultimately seeing the ideas fructify in the shape of BCCI-FAST.
In the second part of his speech Samir Hoodbhoy spoke on the urgently required flood relief efforts; he also urged the gathering of the entrepreneurs to view the disaster as a huge opportunity.
