(Washington, D.C.) — The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council hosted a lunch and roundtable discussion featuring Mr. John Simmons, the newly-appointed Commercial Counselor at the United States Embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.  Business executives and government officials from both the U.S. and the U.A.E. attended the event to welcome Mr. Simmons to his post.

Danny Sebright, President of the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council introduced Mr. Simmons to the U.S.-U.A.E. business community.  Mr. Sebright expressed the business community’s eagerness to work with the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the U.S. Consulate in Dubai to strengthen commercial ties between the U.S. and U.A.E. and advocate for U.S. business in the Emirates.

In his comments, Mr. Simmons said that he will serve as U.S. Commercial Counselor in Abu Dhabi for four years and emphasized that commercial advocacy will be a key focus during his tenure.  Simmons expressed his eagerness to work with U.S. businesses on the ground in the U.A.E. to facilitate commercial partnership, strengthen the commercial ties between the two countries, and introduce U.S. companies to the U.A.E. market.

Following his comments, Mr. Simmons took questions and comments from the business executives and government officials present at the roundtable discussion.  Simmons thanked those in attendance for their insights and messages of welcome and expressed his keenness to experience Emirati culture as he assumes at his post in Abu Dhabi at the beginning of Ramadan next week.

Mr. Simmons has served extensively overseas as a Foreign Commercial Service Officer and is an international business and trade expert.