Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs Jose W. Fernandez will travel to Jordan on October 21-23, to Saudi Arabia on October 24-25, and to the United Arab Emirates on October 26-27 During his trip to the Dead Sea, Jordan, Assistant Secretary Fernandez will attend the World Economic Forum, where he will participate in a panel on “The Future of Regional Cooperation.” He will join Under Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs Robert Hormats as lead for the Second U.S.-Jordan Economic Dialogue with top officials from the Jordanian Government. He will also meet with global leaders to explore ways in which we can partner to improve the trade and investment climate, encourage new business creation, and create jobs in the Middle East and North Africa.

Assistant Secretary Fernandez will then travel to Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. He will meet with senior government officials and key business leaders in both countries to discuss a wide range of bilateral economic issues, including commercial ties with the United States, investment in transition countries of North Africa, and entrepreneurship. He will also tour economic development projects and commercial clusters in both countries to understand how successful models from the Gulf could be applied to North Africa.

For updates, follow Assistant Secretary Fernandez on Twitter@EconEngage and on Facebook