Dubai, Houston to cement trade ties

HE Hisham Abdullah Al Shirawi, 2nd Vice Chairman of Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry, received members of the Houston Business Development Mission comprising state officials and business leaders from the US city of Houston headed by its Mayor HE Bill White, during their official visit to the Chamber Sunday.

The meeting was also attended by HE David Philips, Chairman of Bilateral US-Arab Chamber of Commerce (BUSACC) and HE Eng Hamad Buamim, Director General and other Board Members of Dubai Chamber.

The business matching meeting came at the heels of Texas Secretary of State HE Phil Wilson and his business delegation's visit earlier this month. Al Shirawi welcomed the delegation and apprised them about the success of the Texas delegation's visit which he said added a new chapter to the Dubai-US trading ties. He also expressed hope that this visit by the Mayor of Houston will help enhance the business ties between the two prominent trading cities of the world.

Said Al Shirawi, 'Dubai enjoys a strong official and economic relation with the US, and the recent visit of President George W. Bush to Dubai last January is the best example of the profound bilateral relation between our two nations. We are quite sure that your valuable visit to Dubai would help better enhance our relations and provide a platform for our two business communities to interact and learn from each other.'

Added Al Shirawi, 'For the last four decades, Dubai Chamber played a vital role in highlighting the strategic and economic importance of Dubai as an international business hub in the region. According to our new vision, Dubai

Chamber plans to be the best chamber in the world. It spares no effort to provide its members with the best quality services and significant facilities that contribute to the development of businesses and enhance competitiveness among corporations.'

HE Bill White put across his appreciation of the city's hospitality and was all praise for Dubai's growth as he expressed his happiness in being here. 'Dubai and the City of Houston have a lot in common. Both are strong centers of business and have similarities in the type of companies and businesses operating in their areas. Also, both the cities are host to a cross-section of nationalities and cultures, thus there's a lot of scope for the two to work together,' he said.

The Mayor of the City of Houston expressed his desire of increasing the number of flights between the two cities and also extended an open invitation for the Dubai Chamber's Director General and the Board Members to visit Houston under the aegis of the Bilateral US-Arab Chamber of Commerce in the near future.