On Tuesday 29 October, right after our weekly Rotary lunch at the Kempinski, our Rotaractor Emmanuel organized an interesting and unique talk.
A member of European parliament, Mr. Sajjad H Karim (MEP Conservatives in The European Parliament & LLB Hons North West England), came to meet members of Rotaract and Rotary to discuss his experiences and views on British-Chinese relations and his work in the European parliament.

Mr. Karim worked as a lawyer before being elected to represent the North-West of England in the European Parliament in 2004.  He is committed to developing the EU’s relationship with developing countries in Asia such as India and China and has been closely involved with the EU-India Free Trade Agreement which seeks to advance trade between the European Union and India.
Mr. Karim was the first British Muslim to be elected to the European Parliament and in 2005 established the European Parliament Friends of Pakistan Group, as well as being a member of Friends of India and Friends of Bangladesh Groups. Through his interaction with these groups, Mr. Karim demonstrates a global outlook for the European Union and seeks to build relationships with developing countries across the world.
Mr. Karim’s world travels also brought him to extreme danger when he was caught in the devastating 2008 Mumbai attacks by Pakistani extremists.  He also made headline news in the British press in 2012 after helping to return six-year old Atiya Wilkinson to her mother, after she had been abducted to Pakistan by her father three years earlier’.
Mr. Karim is part of a larger delegation of the EU Parliament, visiting Beijing. I was myself in a meeting earlier the same day to address part of the delegation on issues related to Public Procurement and recent political and economic developments in China.