A discussion on how the American Chamber of Commerce in Saudi Arabia is helping its members connect, grow, and prosper in the Kingdom with Chairman, Mr. Tarik Solomon.
Over 40 years ago, the leaders of the American business community in Riyadh established the American Business Group of Riyadh, which transformed into the American Chamber of Commerce in Saudi Arabia (AmChamKSA) in December 2020. It is one of the largest independent and not-for-profit bilateral trade associations in the Kingdom, offering exclusive opportunities to foster strong relationships between American and Saudi organizations and leadership by promoting trade development, commerce, and investment.
AmChamKSA welcomes both American and other international companies interested in supporting, engaging, and partnering with the American business community in Saudi Arabia. Investments in Saudi Arabia create new opportunities for the American business community to participate in the business ecosystem of the Kingdom aligned with Vision 2030. Supporting these initiatives is key to AmChamKSA’s programming.
From L-R: Darrell McGraw, President of AmChamKSA Eastern Province Chapter; Tarik Solomon, Chairman of AmChamKSA; Jesse Lapierre, Vice-President of AmChamKSA Eastern Province Chapter
Tarik Solomon was appointed Chairman to the American Chamber of Commerce Saudi Arabia at the end of 2019. Mr. Solomon has been involved in the Chamber for many years as a member, committee leader, board member, and Vice Chairman in previous years. He first came to Saudi Arabia as a student in 1994 with his family and has since worked in various roles giving him broad exposure to U.S.-Saudi trade relations.
For the past 10 years, Mr. Solomon has worked in the defense and aerospace sectors as Director of International Business Development at Shamis Technologies, a leading Saudi Arabian tactical communications and automotive company representing American products and providing a range of specialized, secured communications solutions and engineering services.
I had an opportunity to discuss the upcoming AmChamKSA initiatives and potential collaborative opportunities with Mr. Tarik Solomon.
How was the transition of the American Business Group of Riyadh to becoming the American Chamber of Commerce in Saudi Arabia?
The American Business Group of Riyadh (ABGR) was established over forty years ago to serve as a platform for American businesses to network, socialize, and align their engagement efforts. While the transition formalized the organization by joining an enormous network of global professionals representing American business interests worldwide and improving our member benefits, the foundation built by ABGR continues to be honored.
Today, we are seizing the opportunity to unite the voice of the American business community in Saudi Arabia by joining forces with the American Business Association Eastern Province and American Business Group of Jeddah. These organizations will undergo the same transition maturing into chapters of the AmChamKSA and creating a larger, unified and more robust national organization.
Our presence and growth in the Kingdom serve as a testament of the unified strength of the American business community present in the Kingdom and the desire to strengthen our relationship with Saudi entities. As a business association, we advocate for increased cooperation and focus on promoting innovation and leadership across key economic sectors. AmChamKSA seeks to collaborate on important issues for the American business community, including enhancing legal protection for investors, providing greater transparency in commercial regulations, developing opportunities that support green economies, and supporting the localization of products and services supporting the aims of Saudi Vision 2030.
What is the Chairman’s vision for AmChamKSA? What does the organization hope to achieve?
It is a very exciting time to launch the American Chamber of Commerce in Saudi Arabia and represents a massive step-change and demonstrates the seriousness of the two business communities developing even closer ties than before.
AmChamKSA is in the Kingdom to advance Vision 2030 objectives by targeting and encouraging investment in new and innovative sectors that solve real problems for people.
We plan to accomplish this by providing forums for the American and Saudi private and public sectors to interact and exchange constructive dialogue. In addition, we will offer resources and information providing best practices that will help companies cultivate and orchestrate opportunities for themselves and their local partners.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Saudi Arabia prioritizes boosting trade and investment cooperation with the Kingdom. It is our vision is to be the principal advocate and leader for the American business community, promoting our bilateral trade relationship and fostering the already strong ties between two great nations.
Who gets involved with AmCham? How can interested individuals and parties get involved?
AmChamKSA welcomes any new members interested in promoting American business interests in the Kingdom and participating in the bilateral commercial relationship. We have three membership categories for corporate members – Quincy Circle, Corporate, and Affiliate – and an individual member category. Members are not required to be American citizens as long as they have an interest in supporting American businesses.
More information on the categories and the associated benefits can be found at: www.amchamksa.com/
membership
Interested members can also reach out to our Head of Member Relations, Nicola Losada-Phillips, at:
membership@amchamksa.com
General Membership Event for AmChamKSA
What services does the AmChamKSA offer to their members?
AmChamKSA member benefits include various events and engagement opportunities, advocacy, advertising opportunities, national representation, and the ability to connect with our sector committees. These committees are the impetus for advocacy, engagement with industry decision-makers, and business interests, and include the following: Trade & Industry; Arts, Culture & Entertainment; Women in Business; International Cooperation; Healthcare; Infrastructure; and Professional Services.
Please reflect on the Women in Business Committee of AmChamKSA.
Launched in January 2020, the Women in Business Committee promotes the strategic importance of advancing and empowering women. With the strategic priorities of promoting diversity and inclusion, establishing relationships with those organizations with similar interests, and engaging in bilateral collaborations for women’s professional development goals outlined in Vision 2030, the Women in Business Committee promotes women’s professional career development in Saudi Arabia.
Back Row, L-R: Anne Simmons-Benton, Joan Betros, Nadine Zeidan, Shamis Mohamud, Allison Nour, Tamara Scott, Amanda Tafunai, Jaime Stansbury, Dina Abu Farha, Megumi Ishimoto; Front Row, L-R: Chargé D’Affaires Martina Strong and Virginia Littlejohn
What are the most recent projects that you would like to share with our readers and what is your vision for future projects?
Recently, we joined forces with Jeddah (Western Province) and the Eastern Province to open AmChamKSA chapters in both regions. We put together a framework to enable the growth of chapters across the country under the AmChamKSA umbrella with hopes to expand to NEOM and other regions as the Saudi economy continues to evolve.
Additionally, our sector committees represent a variety of industries and host engaging programming and events. AmChamKSA’s Women in Business Committee partnered with the Atlantic Council and its “EmpowerME” initiative, as well as the U.S. Mission to Saudi Arabia and Quantum Leaps, with AmChamKSA members ExxonMobil and UPS as sponsors, to create and execute a series on “IGNITING Women’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Saudi Arabia” for American and Saudi business leaders. This series highlighted the impact that the American business community hopes to have on furthering investment and business opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
The membership breakfast series is something that has been popular amongst your AmChamKSA members. What does the upcoming programming look like for this series?
AmChamKSA has maintained a longstanding tradition with our membership breakfasts that play host to a number of leading industry and government speakers covering a range of topics including current affairs, key economic and social developments as well as a variety of diverse subject matter that is of interest to our membership.
Starting in 2022, each of our seven committees will be assigned a specific month to host these breakfasts with a topic of interest open to all of our members that reflects on the committee’s respective industry. This brings AmChamKSA members into the key conversations and provides the ability to network across industries.
Media/press inquiry contacts below:
Hana Nemec
Head of Communications
American Chamber of Commerce Saudi Arabia
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Mobile: +966 53 847 7638
Email: hana.nemec@amchamksa.com
Website: www.amchamksa.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/amchamksa
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/amchaminksa
