Alberto Fernandez, Director, Office of Press and Public Diplomacy, US Department of State
A delegation of businesspeople representing the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology visited the Center. Organized by the German Near and Middle East Business Association (NUMOV), the delegation comprised senior executives of German companies specialized in environmental technologies like waste disposal and water treatment. They were briefed about the economic and environmental issues in the Gulf.
A four-member delegation from the Shanghai Institute of International Studies held discussions on the current events in the Gulf and on Gulf-Asia-China relations. The two institutes signed a memorandum of understanding to further mutually-beneficial academic interests. The delegation comprised of Prof. Yang Jiemian – Vice-President and Senior Fellow; Prof. Li Weijian – Director and Senior Fellow of Department of Middle East Studies (DMES); Mr. Ye Qing – Deputy Director, DMES; and Dr. Yu Hongyuan, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow and of International Organization and Law Studies.
Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns, third-highest ranking official in the US State Department, delivered a key policy statement at the Center on “US Policy in the Gulf Region”
Dr. Ayoub Kazim, Executive Director of Dubai Knowledge Village
1- Dr. Ali Al-Garni, Director-General of Riyadh-based Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States, an intergovernmental organization working toward unifying the education system in the region, was briefed about the role that the GRC could play as an education provider given its academic database, network and activities.
2- Dr Koichiro Tanaka, Director, JIME Center-The Institute of Energy Economics, Japan, held discussions about possible cooperation between the two institutes.
