South Florida Business Community Welcomes New U.A.E. Consul General Ahead of Healthy Kidney 5K Race
  • Council Events, Past Events

Share

(L to R) President of the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council Danny Sebright; President of SelectFlorida Matt Swanson; Official Spokesperson & Member of the Organizing Committee for the Zayed Charity Run Ahmed Mohamad Helal Alkaabi; Mayor of Miami-Dade County Daniella Levine Cava; Consul General of the U.A.E. Consulate in Miami Mohammed Abdulla Al Ahbabi; International Business Committee Chair at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Gina Polo

“In Florida, there is an unprecedented opportunity to deepen partnership and create new avenues of collaboration and growth, which is the work I am here to do.” – Mohammed Abdulla Al Ahbabi, Consul General of the U.A.E. Consulate in Miami

On Thursday, January 29th, the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council, in partnership with the U.A.E. Embassy in Washington, D.C. and supported by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, hosted a reception in honor of the U.A.E. Healthy Kidney 5K race taking placing on Saturday, January 31st.

The reception also highlighted the opening of the new U.A.E. Consulate in Miami and new Consul General Mohammed Abdulla Al Ahbabi and provided an opportunity for South Florida government, business, and community leaders to connect with U.A.E. diplomats and trade officials to explore ways U.S. companies in South Florida can deepen commercial engagement with the U.A.E.

Consul General of the U.A.E. Consulate in Miami Mohammed Abdulla Al Ahbabi introduces himself to the local South Florida business and civic communities.

Florida, Miami, and U.A.E. Trade and Commercial Ties Continue to Grow:

“We are proud to be a gateway for U.A.E. business into the Americas.” – Mayor of Miami-Dade County Daniella Levine-Cava

Mayor Levine-Cava spotlighted the U.A.E.’s 10-year $1.4 trillion investment commitment into the United States and the similarities between Miami and the U.A.E., including a business friendly environment, a growing technology sector, and a diverse international workforce.

Other key highlights of the Florida-U.A.E. strategic relationship include the following;

  • Between 2020 and 2024, Florida exported goods worth $7.7 billion to the U.A.E., ranking 4th among U.S. states.
  • Florida’s trade surplus with the U.A.E. reached $2.1 billion in 2024, with year-on-year growth
    at 30%.
  • Trade between Florida and the U.A.E. drove the creation of approximately 19,000 jobs in 2024.
  • In July 2021, Emirates launched a four-times weekly service between Miami and Dubai. The new service added to the existing trade connections provided by Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates, which has been operating scheduled cargo flights to Miami since October 2020.
  • U.A.E. company Gulftainer operations Canaveral Cargo Terminal, which stands as a strategic gateway for trade in the southern United States, serving a vast market of approximately 50 million people across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama.

Other guest speakers included International Business Committee Chair at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Gina Polo and President of SelectFlorida Matt Swanson. Ms. Polo emphasized the U.A.E. and Miami as growing business hubs, and Mr. Swanson announced the opening of a SelectFlorida office in the U.A.E.

Official Spokesperson & Member of the Organizing Committee for the Zayed Charity Run Ahmed Mohamad Helal Alkaabi and Co-Founder of Life Time – Miami Marathon Frank Ruiz spotlight the second edition of the U.A.E. Healthy Kidney 5K in Miami.

U.A.E. Healthy Kidney 5K & Zayed Charity Run:


“The last two editions of the U.A.E. Healthy Kidney 5K in Miami highlight the strong and growing partnership between the U.A.E., state of Florida, and City of Miami.” – Ahmed Mohamad Helal Alkaabi, Official Spokesperson & Member of the Organizing Committee for the Zayed Charity Run

This year’s U.A.E. Healthy Kidney 5K Race is in support of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) of Florida. The NKF of Florida works to prevent kidney disease, accelerate medical innovation, and support local kidney patients and their families. All race fees will be donated directly to the NFK of Florida, made possible through the support of Zayed Charity Run and the U.A.E. Embassy in Washington, D.C. 

Since 2005, the U.A.E. Embassy and Zayed Charity Run have brought together nearly 100,000 runners to raise awareness about kidney disease, in honor of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the U.A.E.’s first President and a kidney transplant recipient. Originally held in New York, the U.A.E. Healthy Kidney 5K was inaugurated in Miami, Florida in 2023.

The 2026 U.A.E. Healthy Kidney 5K Race will take place on Saturday, January 31st at 7:30am at Regatta Park – Coconut Grove in Miami, Florida. Learn more here.

To learn more about the U.A.E.’s fast-evolving business landscape, please consult the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council and Morgan Lewis’s Guide to Doing Business in the U.A.E. To learn more about the Business Council’s programming and this event, please contact Caitlin Cottrell at ccottrell@usuaebusiness.org.