On Tuesday, the ASTM International Board of Directors held 20 events with government and industry leaders in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

This “Outreach Day” included an event hosted by the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Federation of UAE Chambers where Thomas announced ASTM International’s 100th Memorandum of Understanding.  All GCC nations as well as the Gulf Standardization Organization (GSO) have joined this program in recent years.

U.S. Ambassador to the UAE Barbara Leaf provided keynote remarks at dinner.  “Voluntary and technical standards are all around us, and they give confidence to people and organizations to go about their daily lives,” she said. “Once people begin to learn about what standards are and why they are important, it is easy to realize that they are essential for products and services to be traded with consistency, predictability, and reliability.” 

Leaf also joined Christian Reed, Executive Director for the Middle East and Africa at the U.S. Department of Commerce, in presenting Thomas a framed letter recognizing his leadership and his upcoming retirement, signed by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker.

Throughout the day, board members and staff also visited:

•    Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council
•    AGE Steel
•    Al Hosn University
•    Delta Metallurgical
•    Dubai Aluminum
•    Dubai Central Laboratories,
•    Dubai Health Authority
•    ECIL Consulting Services
•    Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA)
•    Geo-Chem Middle East
•    Khalifa University
•    Knauf
•    Koltay Facades
•    Masdar City
•    Ready Mix Abu Dhabi
•    Red Wing Shoes
•    Sinterex,
•    Takreer Research Centre
•    Union Pipes Industry

The week’s activities also included an amusement-ride standards workshop as well as an event on Sunday at NYU-Abu Dhabi. 

On Thursday, ASTM International, the International Code Council, and the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration will jointly sponsor the Standards and Codes for Sustainable Construction Workshop in Dubai, featuring high-level dialogue with government and industry leaders (more information here).

The U.S. Embassy supported several of the above events this week as part of its “Discover America” month.

Media Inquiries: Nathan Osburn, tel +1.610.832.9603; nosburn@astm.org

Release #10192