Talal Al Kaissi

Talal Al Kaissi - Chief of Staff & Advisor to the UAE Embassy Commercial Counselor in Washington D.C.

Talal M. Al Kaissi was appointed Chief of Staff & Advisor to the Commercial Counselor at the UAE Embassy’s Trade & Commercial Office in November 2009. In this role, Talal manages the daily operational work of the Trade Office staff, reporting to the Commercial Counselor.

Talal’s responsibilities at the Trade & Commercial Office focus on trade and investment promotion activities on behalf of the UAE Ministry of Economy’s Foreign Trade Division & The UAE Embassy in Washington DC. This entails planning and implementing promotional events such as trade missions, trade fairs, conferences, and high-level meetings or visits with the public and private sector in both countries as well as speaking at various events and forums to the business community about trade opportunities in the UAE.

Talal and the Commercial Counselor focus on trying to further enhance and maintain the positive nature of the UAE/US bilateral trade and commercial relationship by developing and maintaining contacts with public and private entities on both sides, identifying synergies and assessing viable opportunities to facilitate agreements or transactions between the UAE and the US.

In line with the economic and commercial objectives set forth by the UAE Ministry of Economy, Talal and the Commercial Counselor promote the UAE as the preferred investment destination for US companies and individuals in the Middle East providing services and assisting UAE exporters and investors seeking US markets as well as US exporters seeking UAE and regional markets.

Prior to his role in the Trade & Commercial Office, Talal worked at KBR’s Energy & Chemicals Downstream Business Unit doing Business Development. He was based between Houston, UAE, and Khobar (Saudi Arabia) reporting to the President of the Middle East.

Talal worked on all aspects of the pursuit for multi-million dollar prospects worldwide with a focus on the Middle East and Asian markets, from initial customer contact, to the analysis and negotiation of contractual terms and conditions for Front End Engineering and Design (FEED), Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC), and Project Management Consultant (PMC) contracts ranging from $300K to $113MM. He received the KBR Most Valuable Person Award in 2008.

Talal has a Bachelors of Science Degree in International Business from the California State University in Long Beach and a Postgraduate Certification in Finance from Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business.

References

UAE Embassy Trade & Commercial Office Website www.uaetrade-usa.org