HE Yousef Al Otaiba, United Arab Emirates Ambassador in Washington, DC, presented his credentials to President George W. Bush at the White House on July 28, 2008. He succeeded HE Ambassador Saqr Ghobash, who had served at the post since March 2006.

The UAE government and the individual Emirates have forged numerous partnerships with US institutions aimed at improving education in the UAE, and promoting exchanges between Western and Arab cultures.

In April 2006, Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, launched Masdar, a multi-faceted, multi-billion dollar investment in renewable and alternative energy and clean technology. Masdar is helping to explore, develop and commercialize such future energy sources.

Masdar, which means “the source” in Arabic, has four primary objectives:

A study in the UAE shows that 60 percent of women over the age of 50 may develop breast cancer. The number of deaths caused by breast cancer has been rising dramatically, with doctors saying that diagnostic techniques have not improved significantly and that many women are too shy or uneducated to seek medical care. This lack of awareness of the benefits of regular medical checkups results in many diagnoses being made 6 to 10 years after the onset of breast cancer.

Saadiyat Island—or “Island of Happiness”—embodies Abu Dhabi's vision to be a regional cultural center. The island’s Cultural District will include eight museums housed in buildings designed by world-renowned architects such as Jean Nouvel, Tadao Ando, Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid.

The UAE helps friends and neighbors when disaster strikes. Its global foreign aid and development budget totals $15 billion annually, with donations and in-kind support made directly to governments, as well as through organizations such as the Red Crescent.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the UAE provided $100 million for relief work to the United States. The donation, made directly to the US government, has been used for a variety of recovery and rebuilding projects and helped thousands of children and families.

The United Arab Emirates and United States have a deep relationship that is anchored in robust bilateral trade and investment, and shared economic interests. In fact the UAE is already the US’ largest export market for US goods in the Middle East, with the value of US exports to the UAE totaling about $22.5 billion in 2012.  

The UAE government is committed to the global effort to combat human trafficking, and works closely with international and regional law enforcement officials to apprehend and punish violators of human trafficking laws.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the focus and case study for 70 children ranging in ages from seven to 17 years at a three-week program at Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture’s summer camp in Philadelphia. Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture is a Philadelphia-based non-profit organization dedicated to youth education in the Arabic language, Arab arts, and Arab culture. Since its incorporation as a non-profit organization in 2003, Al-Bustan’s camp has chosen to focus on one country in the Middle East every summer.

The US-UAE Business Council, created in 2007, demonstrates how business-to-business initiatives drive the expanding commercial relationship between the UAE and the United States.