The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council lunch and roundtable discussion will feature remarks and insights from Mr. Robert Bannerman, the newly appointed Principal Commercial Officer of the U.S. Consulate in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.). The event will provide an opportunity for members of the U.S.-U.A.E. business community to meet and speak with Mr. Bannerman prior to his departure for Dubai later this summer.

Mr. Bannerman has served extensively overseas as a Foreign Commercial Service Officer and is an international business and trade expert. His biography can be found below.
Mr. Robert Bannerman
New Principal Commercial Officer
U.S. Foreign Commercial Service
U.S. Consulate in Dubai

Robert Bannerman will begin his post as the new Principal Commercial Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Dubai later this summer.

Mr. Bannerman most recently served as the Deputy Senior Commercial Officer in Rome, Italy. He was Principal Commercial Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from 2002 to 2006. Prior to his posting in Vietnam, he served as Commercial Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines from 1998 to 2001 and Beijing, China from 1995 to 1998.

Prior to joining the Foreign Commercial Service in 1994, Mr. Bannerman practiced law in Washington, D.C. with the firm of Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander and Ferdon, and in Seoul, Korea with the firm of Kim & Chang. His areas of expertise include intellectual property law enforcement, international business transactions, and international trade litigation. From 1974 to 1983 he served as Attorney-Advisor in the Office of the General Counsel and Legal Advisor to the Chairman at the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Bannerman holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from St. Olaf College. He also earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Minnesota. He is conversant in Italian, Mandarin and Vietnamese.