Edward Burton has been the president and managing director of the US-Saudi Arabian Business Council since March 2006. Prior to this position, Mr. Burton was the Senior Commercial Officer in the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia responsible for bilateral commercial relations and business development activities in support of U.S. firms. In this position, he was also appointed directly by former Commerce Secretary Donald Evans to serve as the Commercial Service's Regional Coordinator for the Iraq Reconstruction Regional Initiative. Prior to being assigned to Riyadh, Burton was the director of the US Export Assistance Center in Philadelphia, and before that he was the international trade director for the state of New Jersey.
The US-Saudi Arabian Business Council was established in December 1993 to improve the mutual knowledge and understanding between the private sectors of the United States and Saudi Arabia, and to promote trade and investment between the two countries. The council’s activities include trade missions, conferences and seminars, and high level networking events. The council also publishes updated documents including “A Business Guide to Saudi Arabia,” a quarterly newsletter, the US-Saudi Business Brief, and specialized industrial sector reports. These activities are now focused on highlighting the more than $620 billion in market opportunities projected for the Saudi economy over the next 15 years.
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Kam Shah is the Senior Project Manager for the U.S. Department of Commerce's Middle East and North Africa Business Information Center (MENABIC). Shah is responsible for promotion of a regional program for 16 overseas markets in the Middle East and North Africa and does extensive counseling on doing business in the region. He has conducted and participated in numerous seminars on Middle East issues as they affect market entry and business conditions for U.S. firms. He has served as a Regional Country Manager in the Commercial Service providing policy and administrative support for overseas operations. He has also worked at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office where he gained experience in intellectual property rights issues that he engages in his client counseling activities.
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Dana Shannon is an international trade officer for the Oregon Economic & Community Development Department. Dana has over 15 years of experience in the international import/export business as an international trade advisor and educational instructor for the Small Business International Trade Center and the International Trade Institute. He also lectures to private industry and the public sector on international business isues and trade practices.
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Scott Goddin has been Director of the Portland U.S. Export Assistance Center (USEAC) since 1997. The USEAC, located in the Portland World Trade Center, serves as a “one-stop shop” for federal export support services offered by the International Trade Administration, Small Business Administration and U.S. Export-Import Bank. The USEAC has regional responsibility for Oregon and southwest Washington. He has been with the International Trade Administration of the Department of Commerce for over twenty years, working in the Office of the China Economic Area, the Office of Multilateral Affairs during the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations; and as Director of the Korea/Taiwan division. While Mr. Goddin has traveled repeatedly to Asia for trade negotiations; his overseas experience also includes two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zaire and short-term assignments in the Commercial Section of the U.S. Embassy in Korea and Kenya. Mr. Goddin holds an MA in International Affairs from Georgetown University and a BA in History from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He is married with two children and resides in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
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7670 S.W. Village Greens Circle,
Wilsonville, Oregon 97070.
Telephone: 503-694-2333
Fax: 503-694-2336
E-mail: ajholt36@aol.com
Born in the U.K. and graduated with honors degree in Geology from the University of Glasgow.
From 1959 worked as geologist in Canada with Shell, Amerada and Champlin and in corporate planning with Imperial Oil. Awarded Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of British Columbia in 1970.
Returned to the U.K. in 1971 to join Burmah Oil Company, and later the British National Oil Corporation, involved in the business and economic aspects of international and North Sea exploration, development and production.
In 1977 joined Cities Service Company in Tulsa and later Occidental Petroleum in Bakersfield, working mostly in international operations. Latterly spent 12 years as president and resident general manager of various overseas subsidiaries of Occidental Petroleum, involved in exploration for and development and production of, crude oil and natural gas, in Jakarta, Indonesia; Islamabad, Pakistan; Muscat, Oman; Lima, Peru and Doha, Qatar, managing diverse staffs of American expatriates, third country nationals and local employees. Served for a period as Vice President of Engineering in head office before retirement in 2001.
Member of Board of Trustees of World Affairs Council of Oregon
Member of Advisory Board, Middle East Studies Center, Portland State University