AmCham Abu Dhabi and American Business Council in Dubai conduct

The American Chambers of Commerce in the UAE, AmCham Abu Dhabi, and the American Business Council in Dubai, recently conducted a high-profile trade mission in Washington, DC. The delegation represented over 1,000 corporate members as the voice of American business in the UAE.

Continuing a 17-year tradition of conducting advocacy missions for the benefit of AmCham members, the Abu Dhabi delegation was led by Sharief Fahmy, Chairman of AmCham Abu Dhabi, and Michael Dishman, Chairman of the US-UAE Public Affairs Committee’s US Working Group. The Dubai delegation was represented by Bilal Sabouni, CEO of ABC Dubai, on behalf of American Business Council members across Dubai and the Northern Emirates.

Members of the UAE delegation represented a variety of industry sectors including accounting, construction, defence, engineering, finance, IT, legal, logistics, services, and trade.

Summarising the key policy objective underlying the Trade Mission’s agenda, Mr. Fahmy said, "In today’s competitive global market, it is important to support American citizens abroad who represent US companies exporting goods and services or work for local firms who buy American products."

Mr. Sabouni said, "This is the first time in years we have seen such optimism and confidence for tax reform as well as an overall appetite to ensure that the interests of American businesses and citizens overseas are represented in the legislative process."

On Capitol Hill, meetings were conducted with Members of Congress, Chiefs of Staff and legislative aides in the US Senate and House of Representatives, including House Ways and Means, Appropriations, and Foreign Affairs committees, and the Americans Abroad Caucus and Senate Finance, Appropriations and Foreign Relations committees.

Meetings with Administration officials were held at the US Departments of Treasury and Commerce as well as the US Export-Import Bank. Briefings and policy discussions were also conducted with trade and industry associations, research institutes and think tanks, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Heritage Foundation and the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

To honour the strong US-UAE relationship, the delegation started the week with a meeting at the UAE Embassy in Washington, DC, and capped it off with a reception on Capitol Hill. The reception was supported by AmCham Abu Dhabi, the American Business Council in Dubai and the US Chamber of Commerce.