Dubai Chamber represented at American Chambers Convention in North Carolina

The four day Convention entitled Next dealt with finding solutions to the unfathomed economic climate and issues defining the participating chamber's organizational and economic future.

Hassan Al Hashemi, Director, External Relations, Dubai Chamber, led the Dubai delegation, and had a number of meetings with ACCE officials including Mick Fleming, President and Chris Mead, Senior Vice-President, ACCE; Dave Adkisson, President and CEO, Kentucky Chamber and James Oberwetter, President Dallas Regional Chamber.

A host of key speakers including Dr Stephen Covey, author, Rahaf Harfoush, new media strategist, Mick Fleming, President, ACCE, and Stuart Varney, Fox Business news anchor, aired their views on a variety of topics and hosted specialised workshops providing education, information, and networking opportunities for chamber professionals. The Convention that was attended by 700 delegates, emphasized on securing the knowledge needed to make the difference for Chamber members and regions and to prepare them for whatever comes Next.

Leading up to the ACCE Convention, Dubai Chamber delegation met with Saud Al Nowais, Director of the UAE Trade Office, UAE Embassy in Washington DC; Danny Sebright, President, US-UAE Business Council; Bill Reinsch, President, National Foreign Trade Council; Mark Lowrey, Deputy Assistant, Eurasia and Middle East, US Trade Representative Office; Marc Frey, Director, Visa Waiver Program Office and officials of US Department of Commerce and Georgetown University.

The discussions focused on various topics including renewable and nuclear energy and the environment, sustainable manufacturing, logistics, trading in horses and bringing of American trade delegations to Dubai.

The United States ranked 3rd in the list of Dubai's trading partners as the volume of trade between Dubai Chamber members and the US stood at Dhs5.65bn at the end of 2008. Presently, there are 1,034 American companies operating in Dubai.