The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council hosted an industry reception in conjunction with the second bi-annual Global Aerospace Summit on Monday, April 7th in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.). The event, co-hosted by AIA President & CEO Marion Blakey and U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council President Danny Sebright, honored a delegation of U.S. aerospace executives and featured remarks by the Honorable Michael H. Corbin, United States Ambassador to the U.A.E. Senior business leaders, government officials, and aerospace thought leaders from the American, Emirati, and global community joined Ambassador Corbin for the event.
After welcome and scene-setting remarks from co-hosts Blakey and Sebright, Ambassador Corbin provided perspective on the state of U.S.-U.A.E. relations to public and private sector stakeholders in attendance with a specific focus on the commercial and defense aerospace sectors. In his comments, Ambassador Corbin pointed to the second Global Aerospace Summit as tangible evidence of the U.A.E.’s execution of long-term strategies to emerge as an international aerospace hub and incubator for industry thought leadership, as well as America’s role as a key partner in the process.
“Emirati business leaders often look to America’s aerospace industry to provide world-class products, services, and in pursuit of the U.A.E.’s goal of becoming a key link in the global aerospace supply chain and support the strategic relationship between the two countries,” said Ambassador Corbin. “The U.A.E. carriers’ record-breaking orders of Boeing aircraft and GE engines during the Dubai Airshow last November, and the partnerships being cultivated during this week’s Global Aerospace Summit in Abu Dhabi provide clear evidence of the strength and potential of these ties.”
During his remarks, Ambassador Corbin referenced the success of the U.A.E.’s flagship global carriers, Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways and Dubai’s Emirates Airline, as important consumers of American aerospace technology and hardware and noted that the expanding international airports in Abu Dhabi and Dubai serve as crucial transit points for growing numbers of international travelers and executives. He underscored that the U.A.E.’s evolving domestic manufacturing infrastructure in Al Ain and aspirations to add space capabilities to its growing telecommunications and satellite industry provides additional avenues for commercial partnership.
Ambassador Corbin concluded his remarks by emphasizing the importance of partnership and information exchange between American and Emirati business leaders in the pursuit of joint aerospace objectives and goals.
Throughout the event, stakeholders were given the opportunity to engage each other about a range of topics, including how American firms could play a greater role in the U.A.E.’s aerospace infrastructure and MRO development; support the country’s capacity-building objectives; and better understand and navigate regulations underpinning foreign direct investment and commercial partnership in the U.A.E.’s aerospace sector.
AIA and U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council leaders are in the U.A.E. this week to co-lead a U.S. civil and defense aerospace delegation to the 2014 Global Aerospace Summit (www.aerospacesummit.com) in Abu Dhabi and participate in the conference’s program. Members of the delegation represent U.S. firms looking to establish or enhance their corporate footprint in the U.A.E. and broader Middle East North Africa (MENA) region.
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About the Aerospace Industries Association:
The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), founded in 1919 only a few years after the birth of flight, is the premier trade association representing major aerospace and defense manufacturers and suppliers in the United States. Based in Arlington, Va., AIA is led by a Board of Governors that meets twice a year and consists of senior representatives of member companies at the c-suite level, and an Executive Committee that meets more frequently. A hallmark of AIA is that it receives its policy guidance from the direct involvement of CEO-level officers of the country’s major aerospace and defense companies. The government frequently seeks advice from AIA on issues, and AIA provides a forum for government and industry representatives to exchange views and resolve problems on non-competitive matters related to the aerospace and defense industry. Today, more than 300 major aerospace and defense companies and their suppliers are members of the association, embodying every high-technology manufacturing segment of the U.S. aerospace and defense industry from commercial aviation and avionics, to manned and unmanned defense systems, to space technologies and satellite communications.
For more information, visit: www.aia-aerospace.org
About the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council:
The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council is a progressive business advocacy organization solely committed to the advancement of the trade and commercial relationship between the United States and the United Arab Emirates. The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council provides its diverse membership unparalleled access to senior decision makers in business and government in the U.A.E. and in the U.S. The Business Council actively works to ensure that the U.S. and U.A.E. remain attractive destinations for foreign direct investment by conducting effective policy advocacy, undertaking various trade promotion initiatives, providing ongoing updates on the business climate in both countries, and helping develop strategic relationships between U.S. and U.A.E. business and government officials.
For more information, visit: www.usuaebusiness.org
