PACIFIC BASIN ECONOMIC COUNCIL
MAIN PAGE | CLIPS | 1997 | A.K. MAGO

A.K. Mago: The Asian advocate understands the power of money The Dallas Morning News March 23, 1997 Breakfast with the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce Asian Task Force. Lunch with U.S. Rep. Martin Frost (D-Dallas). Another lunch with the Dallas Race Relations Commission. An early-afternoon meeting with the Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce executive committee. "This morning, I had to decide whether to attend the Greater Dallas chamber meeting or stay in bed," Mr. Mago says in his quiet, unassuming voice. But staying in bed, he admits, isn't much of an option. The task force is to hear a presentation from the secretary-general of the Pacific Basin Economic Council, which represents more than 1,200 of the largest companies and many countries in the region. Mr. Mago, one of Dallas' most prominent Asian-American business leaders, wants to be at the meeting - even if it means getting downtown from his Far North Dallas home by 8 a.m. He wants Dallas to bid for the council's annual meeting in 2001, which would bring some of Asia's most powerful chief executives and political leaders to North Texas. The economic impact could be in the millions of dollars in new industry to the region, says Mr. Mago, chairman and president of Mago & Associates, a commercial real estate and investment firm. He plans to attend the economic council's annual meeting in May in the Philippines to make a pitch for Dallas. He maneuvered his way into the Lions Club, becoming president of the Indian Lions Club. A few years later, he became the first Asian governor of District 2X1 of Lions Club International. He took the helm of the Asian Chamber after Mr. Hsueh served three terms. Mr. Mago was elected to four consecutive terms, leaving the chamber with a permanent office, a staff and tens of thousands of dollars in the bank. And he has shattered other barriers, becoming the first Asian-American to be appointed to the Dallas Plan Commission and elected to the executive committee of the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau. Mr. Mago, who serves on 15 Dallas boards, has also helped raise millions of dollars for Dallas Asian organizations. He is revered among many of Dallas' 30,000 East Indians, says longtime friend Sudhir Parikh, chairman of the Asian Chamber. "I call him a professional beggar for nonprofit causes," Mr. Parikh says. "This guy has a zeal to serve that makes him very unique. I have not seen that kind of zeal in anybody else." It's not just in Dallas that Mr. Mago has left a mark. His frequent trips to India to drum up business between the subcontinent and Dallas have earned him the respect of Indian government officials. Besides having personal investments in India. Mago works as a consultant to North Texas business leaders who are interested in making investments for their companies. "He's playing a very important role as a bridge or link between Dallas and India," says Swashpawan Singh, consul general of India in Houston. "We're very happy with what he has been doing. We need lots of people like him."