A 17-member delegation from the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham Egypt) visited Houston, Texas on November 19-20 at the invitation of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee. The delegation, which included members of the board as well as AmCham Egypt members from various sectors, traveled to Houston as part of AmCham Egypt’s mission to promote economic opportunities in Egypt and to explore potential fields of cooperation in strategic US cities. Houston was selected due to its diverse industries, its strategic location in addition to the strength and size of its economy. The two-day visit allowed AmCham Egypt delegates to tour Houston’s industrial and technological base, while providing them with the opportunity to network with the city’s business community and policy makers.

The mission was jointly organized by the Bilateral US-Arab Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Houston Partnership and Apache Corporation. Events during the two-day trip were sponsored by Apache Corporation and ExxonMobil.

Upon arrival in Houston, the delegation visited the Greater Houston Partnership (GHP), to meet with Jackson-Lee. Jeff Mosley, GHP president and CEO, and Adam Gibson, GHP’s vice president of world trade, explained the organization’s role in promoting Houston as an international business hub. Houston is one of the top four international trade areas in the US, they noted. GHP works to engage Houston’s business and educational elites in infrastructure projects and aims to drive business-focused public policy that fosters public development.

The next stop on the trip was a lunch, hosted by AmCham Egypt, at the St. Regis Hotel, which was attended by more than 200 members of Houston’s business and political establishment. This event was held as a networking and business matchmaking opportunity for AmCham delegates and their Houston counterparts. AmCham Egypt president Omar Mohanna and Jackson-Lee gave the opening remarks. The keynote speaker was the Honorable James A. Baker, the former secretary of state under president George Bush Sr. After taking questions, Baker was awarded an honorary membership in AmCham by Adel Danish, AmCham Egypt’s vice president of membership.

Lunch was followed by a panel discussion with Jackson-Lee, Mohanna, Danish, and the president and CEO of Apache Corporation, Steven Farris. Mohanna presented an overview of the recent economic developments in Egypt. Danish discussed the growth and advancement of the IT and communications sectors in Egypt. Farris shared Apache’s success story in Egypt. The panel was followed by a question and answer session in which most inquiries related to Egyptian-US relations.

Several members of the delegation had one-on-one meetings with Houston business counterparts in various sectors including oil, energy and IT. Delegates from the medical and pharmaceutical sectors toured The Methodist Hospital, located in the Texas Medical Center. The 85-year-old private teaching hospital is affiliated with the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and is a pioneer in cutting-edge medical research. The tour consisted of visiting a number of different departments and meeting the senior administration. The delegates were impressed by the advanced healthcare offered, as well as the hospital’s high standards.

Members of AmCham Egypt’s board were then invited by Jackson-Lee to tour the 18th District, which she represents. The tour began with a visit to Texas Southern University, which boasts over 9,500 students and is one of the largest of the US’s historically black colleges and universities. Within the university, AmCham board members visited the Barbara Jordan Archives, the Barbara Jordan – Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs, and the university’s art museum. Barbara Jordan was the first African-American woman elected to the Texas Senate, in 1966. Members then toured other parts of the district including community development progress and investment options in the city’s Third Ward, one of the city’s poorest and least developed areas.

To round off their first day in Houston, delegates were invited to a dinner reception at the home of Mike Nassar, the chairman and CEO of Energy Allied International (EAI).

Nassar welcomed his guests, turning the floor over to Jackson-Lee. She noted that the purpose of the gathering was to “cement” Egyptian-US relations. Mohanna took the opportunity to thank the congresswoman for her support and hospitality. He then presented her with an honorary AmCham Egypt membership. Texas state senator Rodney Ellis made members of the delegation “honorary Texans” while Houston’s mayor, Bill White presented Mohanna with the Texan flag. The congresswoman also awarded Mohanna a certificate of congressional recognition.

On the second day of the mission, the delegation visited the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The center is respected worldwide for its exclusive devotion to cancer patient care, research, education and prevention. The delegates met the center’s attending staff and viewed a presentation by the center’s provost and executive vice president, Raymond Dubois, who outlined MD Anderson’s vision and programs. It is the center’s goal to become a global actor in the fight against cancer and to eventually treat patients through a satellite clinic operation. The worldwide scope of the center’s work was then further elaborated upon by Dr. Kendra Woods, director of extramural programs at the center. Delegates then split into two groups to explore different areas of the center, observing the facility’s utilization of technology.

The AmCham Egypt delegation then visited the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, one of the leading non-partisan public policy think tanks in the US. The institute conducts significant research on both domestic and international policy issues in an attempt to bridge the gap between the theory and practice of public policy, utilizing Rice University faculty and the institute’s own endowed fellows and scholars.

The Honorable Edward Djerejian, the institute’s founding director and former US ambassador to Syria and Israel, welcomed the delegates. Djerejian discussed the Iraq Study Group report, as well as the need for Iraq’s neighboring states to support reform in that country by joining together in a forum to help rebuild it. He also pointed out the necessity of addressing and solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through political negotiations to implement a two-state solution.

Amy Jaffe, the director of the energy program at the institute, explained her recent research in the fields of oil geopolitics, strategic energy policy including energy science policy, and energy economics. Kenneth B. Medlock III, an adjunct professor of economics at Rice University and a Baker Institute fellow in energy studies, spoke on the topic of energy.

Following their visit to the Baker Institute, the delegates attended a lunch hosted by AmCham Egypt at Hotel Zaza with the theme “Business opportunities in Egypt.” Addressing the guests, Mohanna outlined the benefits of continued relations between the US and Egypt, and thanked Steve Farris for Apache’s support of the mission.

Following the lunch, delegates were offered a rare glimpse into space travel through a VIP tour of the NASA Johnson Space Center facilities. The delegates toured a number of training facilities, including a life-size replica of the space shuttle used for astronaut training. They also visited the mission control centers, including centers used for both training and real space missions.

The delegates concluded their mission to the city of Houston with a final business matchmaking session in downtown Houston. Jackson-Lee hosted the delegates at her office to meet a number of businesspeople, entrepreneurs and representatives of business associations in Houston. The AmCham Egypt delegation took the opportunity to thank their Houston counterparts for their effort in making the mission a success. With this matchmaking session, the AmCham Business Mission to Houston concluded its productive, fruitful mission to Texas.