Yousef al Otaiba, the UAE's Ambassador to the United States, has been named Ambassador of the Year by the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce. "I am truly honoured to be selected as Ambassador of the Year," Mr al Otaiba said on Wednesday at a ceremony in the US capital. "Commercial ties between the US and Arab world are extremely important. It is a key part of my mission here in Washington. I am motivated to support the expansion of commercial relations, not just for the continued prosperity of my own country, but for that of the broader region."
Mr al Otaiba became the UAE's Ambassador to the US in June 2008. Previously, he was the director of international affairs at the Court of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi for seven years. "Yousef al Otaiba is changing the way that ambassadors work with local governments," Adrian Fenty, the mayor of Washington DC, said during the ceremony. "The number of benefits that the ambassador has brought to the nation's capital are too many to name."
Mr Fenty commended Mr al Otaiba's role in securing a US$150million (DH551m) research grant from the UAE to the Children's National Medical Centre in Washington. @Email:mhabboush@thenational.ae
