Kamal was born on December 27, 1971 in Karachi where he studied until his Intermediate examinations and left for Malaysia.[1] In Malaysia, he received as Associate Diploma in Business Executive Studies.[2] He later received an MBA in Marketing from the Aberystwyth University in United Kingdom.[1] Syed Mustafa Kamal served as the nazim (mayor) of the city of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan from 2005 to 2010. Kamal has affiliations with the Pakistani liberalist party Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). He was shortlisted for the World Mayor Prize in 2010. He had also served as the IT Minister for the Sindh province from 2003 to 2005.
He championed the role of IT in the transformation of the city’s fortunes, after learning from his experiences in the IT Ministry. He envisaged the city becoming an Asian super-hub borrowing from examples of Israel and its dominant regional economy.At times, Kamal had been quoted as targeting development efforts on par with those of Dubai. Under his leadership, the city administration received acclaims and accolades, both internally and externally, as Kamal was feted by diplomats and internal urban policy-makers as a young and confident city leader.
In 2010, the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan asked for the abolition of post of mayors in all cities across Pakistan and Kamal left to resume his duties as the member of the MQM Coordination Committee. Lala Fazal-ur-Rehman became the caretaker administrator of the CDGK, replacing Kamal.
Syed Mustafa Kamal was awarded an honorary PhD degree in Politics by the Mohammad Ali Jinnah University, Karachi, at its convocation held on the 14th of April 2010 at a ceremony held at the open air PAF Museum in Karachi.
Mustafa Kamal, former Nazim Karachi, and four other PAKISTANIs have made it to World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders 2010 winners list. Others include Amir Jahangir, Hamid Yar Hiraj, Muhammad Tabba and Umar Saif. According to WEF : The honour, bestowed each year by the Forum, recognizes and acknowledges up to 200 outstanding young leaders from around the world for their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.. It is indeed a proud moment for everyone and lets give full credit to the ones who deserve. These were drawn from a pool of almost 5,000 candidates, the Young Global Leaders 2010 were chosen by a selection committee. The 2010 honourees will become part of the broader Forum of Young Global Leaders community that currently comprises 660 outstanding individuals
For the first time in the history of Pakistan Karachi really got a new, advance and wonderful look. It seemed like the budget for Karachi was honestly spent in the fields where it should always have been spent. Mustafa Kamal is a permanent need of not only for the seat of Karachi mayor but for the whole Pakistan. The prayers of the people who first time got waterline in their village would always be with him.
KARACHI, June 15 (Online): City Nazim Mustafa Kamal has said that some 300 CNG buses will start plying on the city’s arteries from next month with the arrival of first batch of the buses, while City District Government Karachi (CDGK) will construct 13 steel made bridges with the help of Japanese government at various places in metropolis, out of which 5 bridges would be completed during just in the period of a year. This he was stated during a meeting with Consul General of Iran Masood Muhammad Zamani, who called on City Nazim with a delegation at his office on Friday. The delegation representing Iranian companies expressed its interest to invest in various sectors including constructions of steel bridges, transport, 
infrastructure and solid waste management. Nazim Mustafa Kamal asked Iranian companies for their assistance in solid waste management,
infrastructure and transport sectors primarily in installations of steel bridges in the city as the government desires to take the advantage of Iranian technology in Karachi. He informed the delegation about the execution of uplift process for infrastructure improvement, construction of signal free corridors, flyovers,
underpasses and roads of international standard, besides rehabilitation of water and sewerage system and development in industrial areas. Reminding about the construction of Clifton Bridge, City Nazim said Iranian engineers had constructed that bridge in Karachi and Iranian government and their investors have vast opportunities here, if they wish to invest in the development projects. He said the governmentadopted the policy for providing most modern
facilities of transport in Karachi, and a rapid bus transport system (RBT) is being introduced in Karachi. 300 CNG buses will starts plying in the city from next month while many other companies have also planned to run CNG buses in Karachi and they will be provided with every facility besides CNG stations, bus terminals, roads of international standard and signal free corridors, therefore the Iranian investors will also be welcomed in these sectors, especially we could adopt Iranian technology in order to step up in the fields of solid waste management, infrastructure, transport and construction of steel bridges, he added. City Nazim
