U.S.-Arab Chamber's annual High Tech Road Show to U.S.A. launches in Las Vegas

This year's delegation will visit Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Silicon Valley.

"The High Tech Road Show has become a preeminent annual event for promoting technology and knowledge transfer between the United States and the Arab world, and our Chamber is very proud to organize this high-level delegation," noted David Hamod, President & CEO of the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce (NUSACC).

"The high tech sector has a disproportionately large impact on job creation and economic growth, which helps to explain why so many start-ups from the Arab world are attracted to this unique annual event," he added.

This year's HTRS includes 16 Strategic Partner entities, including the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), organizers of the International CES held in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Gary Shapiro, President & CEO of CEA, noted, "The National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce has been bringing business and government leaders from the Arab world to International CES for six years. We greatly value NUSACC's High Tech Road Show, given the growing importance of the Middle East & North Africa region in the world economy."

This year's International CES drew more than 150,000 attendees from over 150 countries, and roughly one-fifth of the participants came from overseas. Some 20,000 new products are being launched at this year's event, a reflection of the key role that this sector plays in promoting innovation. Shapiro noted that CE industry revenues in the United States are expected to reach a record-high $209.6 billion in 2013, up nearly three percent from an estimated $203.9bn in 2012. He compared the strength of the 2013 International CES to the success of the global technology industry, which will exceed $1 trillion in 2013.

Nine Arab nations are participating in this year's HTRS, including Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. The delegation includes 15 Libyans, with high-level representation from the Libya's Central Bank, the Ministry of Communications & Informatics, the Ministry of Transport & Communications, and the Tripoli Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture.

H.E. Khalil Mahfud, Chairman of the Tripoli Chamber, said, "Our Chamber is proud to head the biggest technology delegation ever from Libya, including leaders from the public and private sectors. The High Tech Road Show is an impressive program that covers the ICT industry from all the different angles, including a world renowned exhibition, business networking opportunities, academic briefings from top U.S. universities, and visits to top technology companies and institutions. This tour creates valuable opportunities for the new Libya to forge relationships at all different levels in the United States."

H.E. Dr. Juma Al Matrooshi, Executive Vice President at the Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority, characterized the HTRS as a "rich program with added value to any player in the ICT sector. Representing a worldwide hub for ICT companies in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority is very impressed by the HTRS program, the level of meetings, the business networking events, and the overall relevancy to the needs of the industry in emerging markets."

The Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority -- based in the United Arab Emirates -- is dedicated to promoting modern technology-based industries, thereby supporting the region's demand for business expansion. Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO) is a technology park and provides an integrated living and working community. DSO is designed as a high-tech ecosystem which offers businesses numerous advantages, including a state-of-the-art infrastructure, in-house business services, and strong commercial support -- such as technology investment incentives for large enterprises, entrepreneurial support, an incubation center, and venture capital funding.

While at the International CES, HTRS delegates had an opportunity to meet with select industry leaders, including Tim Westergren, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Pandora, who served as Keynote speaker at the CEA's annual "Leaders in Technology" dinner. Pandora gives people music and comedy anytime, anywhere, through connected devices. Westergren shared an inspiring entrepreneurial success story with delegates about how he came to launch Pandora . . . a journey that included five years of service as a nanny, the difficulties that he faced in raising money from prospective investors, and the trust that he shared with his team of colleagues, many of whom worked for two years or more without pay during the firm's "lean" start-up period.

Pandora has come a long way since then. During December 2012, the California-based company provided over 67.1 million listeners with music, and listener hours during that period totaled 1.39 billion hours, an increase of 54 percent from 906 million hours during December 2011.

Other keynote speakers included: Paul Jacobs, Chairman & CEO of Qualcomm; Kazuhiro Tsuga, President of Panasonic; Lowell McAdam, Chairman & CEO of Verizon; Stephen Woo, President for Device Solutions at Samsung Electronics; David Lieb, CEO & Co-Founder of Bump Technologies; will.i.am, Founder & Chairman of i.am.plus LLC; Marc Benioff, Chairman & CEO of Salesforce.com; Michael Bowling, Chief Marketing Officer of Business Solutions for AT&T; Josh Silverman, President of U.S. Consumer Services for American Express; and Joseph Tripodi, Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for The Coca-Cola Company.

Concluded David Hamod of the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce, "Consumer electronics is an increasingly important economic driver in the MENA region, in part because the region has one of the fastest growing youth populations in the world. The International CES is the place to be for the 'next big thing' in consumer electronics, and we are proud to make this showcase part of our annual High Tech Road Show."