Abu Dhabi, UAE

The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council held its bi-annual Board of Directors meeting at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, November 11, 2010.  Members of the Board of Directors of the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council, comprised of senior executives from prominent U.S. and U.A.E. companies, were joined by government officials from both countries.  Dr. Ray Irani, CEO and Chairman of Occidental Petroleum, and Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, COO of Mubadala, presided over the meeting as Co-Chairmen of the Business Council’s Board of Directors.  Ambassadors Yousef Al Otaiba, the U.A.E. Ambassador to the U.S., and Richard Olson, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.A.E., also addressed the Board and commended the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council on its successes in advancing the commercial relationship between the two countries.

The meeting marked the end of the two year tenure of founding Co-Chair Khaldoon Al Mubarak as Waleed Ahmed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, the COO of Mubadala, was voted unanimously to replace him as the new Co-Chairman of the Council.

H.E. Mohammed Al Romaithi, the Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, was voted unanimously to become a new Co-Vice Chair of the council.

The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council’s Board of Directors approved an aggressive work plan for 2011 that will include five U.S. trade missions to the U.A.E. in various sectors and extensive commercial outreach and advocacy efforts to a growing number of states in the U.S.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Directors were invited to attend the F1 Grand Prix weekend activities as guests of Ambassador Yousef al Otaiba.

The next board meeting is set to take place in the spring of 2011 in the U.S.