A Business Luncheon with a delegation from the City of Houston
The Qatari Businessmen Association organized a luncheon in the honor of the visit of HE Ms. Anisse Parker, Mayor of the City of Houston, and her accompanying business delegation, on November 14, 2012 at the Four Seasons Hotel.
The lunch was attended by HE Sheikh Hamad Bin Faisal Bin Thani Al-Thani, QBA board member, Mr. Sherida Saad Jubran al-Kaabi, QBA board member, and QBA members Mr. Salah Jaidah, Mr. Nasser Suleiman Haidar, Mr. Nabil Abu Issa, Mr. Maqbool Habib Khalfan, Mr. Seraj Al- Baker and Mr. Abdul Salam Abu Issa, along with a highly distinguished Qatari businessmen from various sectors.
HE Ms. Anisse Parker was elected as the mayor of the City of Houston since January 2010, after being elected as a member of the Houston City Council from 1998 - 2003 followed by holding the position of the city's controller between 2004 -2009.
Ms. Parker explained the objectives of her visit to Qatar and expressed the importance of the Qatari market for the U.S. investors, as the two countries have enjoyed strong bilateral trade and a long history of cooperation in various fields, which is clear in the recently signed Qatar Airways agreement to buy 60 aircrafts from Boeing 787 at a cost of U.S Dollars 11 billion.
His Excellency Sheikh Hamad Bin Faisal Bin Thani Al-Thani, spoke on behalf of QBA members and welcomed Ms. Anisse Parker and her accompanying delegation, and mentioned that the trade relations between the United States and Qatar have expanded rapidly over the past five years, with the volume of trade growing by more than 157 percent, the United States is also the first exporter to the State of Qatar, since the volume of imports from the United States reaches approximately U.S. $ 2.7 billion for 2011, which represents 12 percent of annual Qatar 's imports.
At the end of the visit, HE Ms. Anisse Parker thanked Sheikh Hamad Bin Faisal Bin Thani Al-Thani and the distinguished guests for hosting this lunch, and invited them to visit Houston, as it is full with investment opportunities in various fields.
It is worth mentioning that the volume of trade exchange between the city of Houston and the State of Qatar has reached $ 260 million mostly within the industrial equipment for the oil and gas industry and increased by 32 percent between 2010 and 2011.
The City of Houston is also a cultural center and a major economic hub as it is universally known as the capital city of energy, and the city port is classified as the first in the international shipping ports in the United States. In addition the city has one of the largest Medical Centers, "Texas Medical Center" which is considered one of the largest medical research institutes in the world.