Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates — The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council and the United Arab Emirates’ (U.A.E.) Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) co-hosted an exclusive working dinner on the sidelines of the third U.S.-U.A.E. Economic Policy Dialogue (EPD) meeting on Wednesday, March 27th, in Abu Dhabi. The event attracted key public and private sector representatives from both countries and followed a day of government-to-government meetings between senior officials representing MoFA, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and other government agencies involved in strengthening economic ties between the two countries.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jose W. Fernandez, U.A.E. Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs His Excellency Khalid AlGhaith, and U.S. Ambassador to the U.A.E. Michael H. Corbin, joined Waleed al Mokarrab, COO of Mubadala, president of the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council Danny Sebright, as well as other senior government officials and business executives to lead a discussion on key EPD-related issues impacting the current U.S.-U.A.E. business landscape, prospective growth areas in critical sectors, and general business policy topics.

Following the overview of the earlier EPD meeting provided by the government representatives, Sebright discussed the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council’s new report on the U.S.-U.A.E. commercial aviation relationship, “U.S.-U.A.E. Commercial Aviation: Taking Flight”, and provided its key findings to the group. During his presentation, Sebright highlighted the economic impact of Etihad Airways’ new non-stop service between Abu Dhabi and Washington D.C. — launching this Sunday, March 31st.

Also discussed at the dinner and announced in the joint statement of the EPD meeting by the two governments was the creation of the U.S.-U.A.E. CEO Roundtable — a private sector advisory body comprised of senior business leaders from both countries mandated to provide advisory policy recommendations for inclusion in subsequent EPD meeting agendas. The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council will act as the Executive Secretary for the CEO Roundtable and will immediately start the process of constituting the body with key representatives from the private sector in both countries. According to Al Ghaith and Fernandez, the CEO Roundtable’s purpose would be to both bring forward issues to be discussed during subsequent EPD meetings and to take action on issues brought to the group by the EPD— all on the margins of the government-to-government meetings.

Also announced at the dinner was the appointment of John Rice, Vice Chairman of General Electric, to serve as the U.S. Co-Chairman of the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council’s Board of Directors.

After the formal program, the floor was opened to senior executives and government officials for a discussion on U.S.-U.A.E. trade, investment, and commerce. The wide-ranging conversation included current U.A.E. infrastructure projects ripe for U.S. involvement and policy issues impacting American companies looking to do business in the U.A.E., and Emirati companies hoping to accomplish greater investment and business in the U.S.

The next meeting of the EPD is set to take place later this fall in Washington, D.C.