DETROIT, 27 September 2003 — Top executives from Fortune 500 companies, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and US Secretary of State Colin Powell are expected for the first annual US-Arab Economic Forum in Detroit, Michigan from Sept. 28 to 30. More than 1,000 attendees are expected for the three days featuring workshops, networking meetings and roundtables. The theme of the conference is “One World. Two Cultures. Endless Possibilities”.
The organizers hope to facilitate trade and development between the US and the Arab world.
The forum is hosted by the American-Arab Chamber of Commerce of Detroit and the Detroit Regional Chamber in collaboration with the Arab American Institute (AAI) and the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS). It is being coordinated by the Global Leadership Team and sponsors include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, General Motors, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and PepsiCo.
According to Ahmad Chebbani, president of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce, “Detroit seemed like a natural place to hold this Forum since it has the highest concentration of Arabs outside the Middle East and is well positioned to serve as an international trade hub between the two nations.”
The organizers plan to create an American “Davos-Style” atmosphere where Arab and American business and public leaders can dialogue and forge new alliances, facilitate business opportunities and devise action plans to create a stronger relationship for the two cultures in the future.
Previously successful conferences entitled SaudiAmerica and GulfAmerica bringing together the Arab World and America were held in the 1980s in Atlanta, Georgia and Houston, Texas and in the early 1990s in Chicago, Illinois. However, after the first Iraq war in the early 1990s conference activities of this type stopped. The Detroit Arab-American Forum will not only be the first of its kind in many years, but it will become an annual event according to Sam Hamdan, chief strategist of the US-Arab Economic Forum and chairman of the Global Leadership Team.
The over 150 world and business leaders taking part in the event also include Crown Prince Sheikh Salman ibn Hamad Al-Khalifa of Bahrain; Carleton Fiorina, chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, USA; Michael D. White, chairman and CEO, International Business PepsiCo, USA; Craig R. Barrett, CEO Intel, USA; Lee Raymond, CEO and chairman of ExxonMobil, USA; and Richard Wagoner Jr., CEO and chairman of General Motors Corporation.
US Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, an Arab-American and former Michigan Senator who is scheduled to speak at the forum, said: “The forum brings together private sector individuals, academics, government representatives, and non-governmental organizations to discuss ways to encourage cooperation, promote business investment and improve US-Arab relations as a whole.
Sheikh Salman Al-Khalifa said: “The US-Arab Economic Forum will provide the Arab world with a platform to share our vision and commitment to the principles and practices of sustainability, transparency and civil society participation.”
