1- The Netherlands Ambassador, David P.M. de Waal, Michiel den Hond, Ambassador at Large, and Mr. John Bisschop, Director of the North Africa and Middle East Division in the Dutch Foreign Ministry.
2- The Managing Director of Japan Institute of Overseas Investment, Yutaka Yamada, and Sumiko Teranaka, Senior Analyst, Research and Analysis Department, discussed issues related to Iran’s political, economic and security dimensions.
A five-member German Parliament (Bundestag) delegation, accompanying Chancellor Angela Merkel on her Middle East tour, discussed issues related to Iran, as well as the role of Germany and Europe in the Gulf. The delegation comprised of Eckart von Klaeden, MdB and Foreign Policy Spokesperson for the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union Parliamentary Group; Niels Annen, MdB and Member of the Executive Board of the Social Democratic Party; Werner Hoyer, MdB, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs for the Free Democratic Party Parliamentary Group; Marieluise Beck, MdB, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee representing the Green Party; and Monika Knoche, MdB, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Deputy Chairwoman of the Left Party parliamentary group.
Alberto Fernandez, Director, Office of Press and Public Diplomacy, US Department of State
A delegation of businesspeople representing the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology visited the Center. Organized by the German Near and Middle East Business Association (NUMOV), the delegation comprised senior executives of German companies specialized in environmental technologies like waste disposal and water treatment. They were briefed about the economic and environmental issues in the Gulf.
A four-member delegation from the Shanghai Institute of International Studies held discussions on the current events in the Gulf and on Gulf-Asia-China relations. The two institutes signed a memorandum of understanding to further mutually-beneficial academic interests. The delegation comprised of Prof. Yang Jiemian – Vice-President and Senior Fellow; Prof. Li Weijian – Director and Senior Fellow of Department of Middle East Studies (DMES); Mr. Ye Qing – Deputy Director, DMES; and Dr. Yu Hongyuan, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow and of International Organization and Law Studies.
Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns, third-highest ranking official in the US State Department, delivered a key policy statement at the Center on “US Policy in the Gulf Region”
