Ambassador Al Otaiba Visits Dallas to Reinforce Strong UAE-Texas Ties
February 8, 2012
Dallas, TX (2 February 2012) - HE Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the United States, conducted a two day visit to Dallas, Texas, where he recognized and reinforced the strong commercial, defense and cultural ties between the UAE and the state of Texas.
Ambassador Al Otaiba along with Mayors Price and Rawlings inaugurate the new Dallas-Dubai flight route
Today, as part of his visit, Ambassador Al Otaiba joined Mayor Mike Rawlings of Dallas and Mayor Betsy Price of Fort Worth, along with senior Emirates Airlines executives, to attend the landing of the first non-stop Emirates Airlines Boeing 777 flight into Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport from Dubai International Airport. The flight begins service today and will help enhance commercial and social ties between the US and the UAE.
“We’re here today to celebrate more than the launch of a new non-stop flight between two great cities,” said Ambassador Al Otaiba. “This flight will expand trade, enhance diplomacy, broaden cultural understanding, and deepen the friendship that binds our countries – and our communities – even closer together.”
Goods and services exports from Texas to the UAE reached almost $2 billion last year, and the new Emirates flight will spur hundreds of millions more in local economic activity. It will also attract more UAE investment to Texas and more Texas investment in the UAE.
Also as part of his visit, yesterday, Ambassador Al Otaiba delivered a speech at a luncheon reception hosted by the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth and the US-UAE Business Council. The reception was attended by approximately 300 people including senior business executives, local elected officials, community leaders and local students.
“Texas is a perfect representation of the bilateral relationship between the UAE and the US, with outstanding commercial ties and partnerships spanning the defense, economic and services, healthcare and hospitality sectors,” said Ambassador Al Otaiba.
US-UAE trade from January to November 2011 was approximately $16 billion – an increase of over 20% from 2010 – and higher than pre-recession 2008 figures. The US presently has a trade surplus of $11.9 billion with the Emirates, and is also on pace to surpass its pre-recession record of $14.4 billion in total exports to the UAE. Ambassador Al Otaiba is accompanied in Dallas by a delegation of UAE Embassy diplomats.
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