Dear Colleagues,

WELCOME to the American Chambers of Commerce of Middle East It is a pleasure for me to welcome you to the American Chambers of Commerce of Middle East and North Africa (AmCham MENA) Council Website, as the new Chairman of the council as of July 2009 when AmCham Lebanon took over the chairmanship. I would like to congratulate the previous Chairpersons Mohamad Bataineh, Raja Khoury, Azzam Shweihat, and Taher Helmy, on the wonderful work they have done throughout the past years.

We at AmCham Lebanon believe in the potential the MENA region has, and are fully committed to working hard on promoting it as a fertile land of opportunities. We will do our best to promote the region to the US and develop trade and investment between the two regions as part of the mission of the Council.

Part of an AmCham’s objectives is to enforce good relations between American Chambers of Commerce. The AmChams of the MENA region are our priority. We believe that each country should identify its stronghold and all of us should combine efforts to work as a team and not individually. This will be the gate to improve our joint trade with the U.S.

For starters, we intend to involve AmChams of the MENA region in the important events the different AmChams hold. We hope to give these local successful events a regional focus and make sure all AmChams benefit and participate.

We would also like to focus on the benefits and offers that all members of the MENA AmChams receive from each other. Every member is entitled to the benefits offered by any AmCham in the MENA Council, and we encourage you to take advantage of them. We will do our best to promote this very helpful “tool” and keep you up to date with any new benefits received, but we also urge you to study the possibility of giving your fellow members discounts and promotions to encourage business amongst each other.

Furthermore, regional committees will be formed, similar to the committees each chamber has, and each will be discussing and working on issues that are essential to the region in addition to each country individually. The first committee formed is the Agro-Food Business Committee, which will be chaired by Mr. Arslan Sinno, Vice President for Membership at AmCham Lebanon.

These committees will be able to set working plans and lobby for their issues together because as a team we can deliver a stronger message!

Hopefully, with your involvement and cooperation, the AmCham MENA council can achieve a lot. With our tight links, proximity, and the similarities of our cultures, I know for a fact that hand in hand we will have a positive and constructive impact on our region.

Sincerely,


Salim Zeenni
Chairman, AmCham MENA Council