Spring 2009 Middle East Fair

Beirut, Lebanon - October 27th, 2009

Country and Educational briefing completed by Ms. Sara El Dallal from AMIDEAST and Country Director, Ms. Barbara Batlouni.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Michele J. Sison cut the ribbon to open the fair at the Movenpick in Beirut.

The fair was held in the Movenpick ballroom:

Attendance at Beirut fair
1231 students attended the fair
65% Undergraduate
35% Graduate

85% of the students were Lebanese
15% of the students were expats. (Most of the expats were Palestinian)

Visited 2 Private Lebanese High Schools

Amman, Jordan - October 29th, 2009

The USEG group visited 2 private high schools.

AMIDEAST’s Jordan Educational Advisors Ms. Zohre Allawzi and Ms. Ala'a AlBaw led the country and educational briefings before the fair. The Visa Briefing was held by US Consul officer: Ms. Anne Slack.

US Ambassador Robert Beecroft opened the fair with a speech to the students and university representatives.

The fair highlights and the Ambassadors speech are on the US Embassy website http://jordan.usembassy.gov/pr_fair_110109.html

The fair was held in the Sheraton main Ballroom:

Attendance at Amman fair
1135 students attended the fair
40% Undergraduate
60% Graduate

85% of the students were Jordanian
15% of the students were expats. (Most of the expats were Iraqi, and Palestinian, several Iraqi students drove from Iraq to come to the fair)

Manama, Bahrain - November 2nd, 2009

Visited 2 private high schools in Manama.

The Visa Briefing at the hotel was conducted by Nausher M. Ali, Consular Officer, US Embassy and a country and educational briefing by Mr. David Edginton.

US Ambassador Ereli and Dr. Alawi Al Hashimi, Secretary General for Higher Education opened the fair.

Announcement of fair opening on the US Embassy Website: http://bahrain.usembassy.gov/pe-11022009.html

Attendance at Manama fair:

1367 students attended the fair
65% Undergraduate
35% Graduate

60% of the students were Bahraini
40% of the students were expats. (Most of the expats were Indian and Saudi, the Saudi students drove from Dhahran, which is approximately 30 minutes away)

Visited two private high schools in the Eastern Province.

Aramco representative Mr. Christian Zunigha from Career Counselor College Placement Unit gave a presentation to the group. A small private fair for the Aramco scholars followed.

The general fair followed and the number of students was so high it was extended for an extra hour.

The fair was held at the King Abdullah Ceremonial Hall in Dammam.

Attendance at Dammam fair
Estimated at about 3000 - 3500 students

98% of the students were Saudi Nationals
2% of the students were expats. (Most of the expats were Indian)

Since the fair in Doha was held on a weekend, there were no high school visits scheduled.

Educational and country briefing was done by Ms. Nahid Lawson, Educational Advisor US Embassy.

Visa briefing done by Mr. Timothy F. Ponce, Consul US Embassy.

The fair was then officially opened by US Ambassador Joseph Evan LeBaron. Ambassador LeBaron gave opening remarks in both Arabic and English.

The US Embassy has the opening on the home page of the website.
http://qatar.usembassy.gov/press_releases/amb-opens-college-fair/

An impressive number of Qatari students pre-registered on the Al Jamiat website for the fair, approximately 35% of the total attendees.

The fair was held in the Diplomatic Club Ballroom:

Attendance at Doha fair
1098 students attended the fair
65% Undergraduate
35% Graduate

50% of the students were Qatari Nationals
30% of the students were expats. (Most of the expats were Indian)

The Kuwait fair began by a Country and Educational briefing presented by Ms. Rola Fadlallah, Educational Advisor, AMIDEAST.

A Visa briefing was then presented by Arati Shroff, Vice Consul, US Embassy.

U.S. Ambassador Deborah K. Jones opened the fair and stayed to meet all the universities and representatives.

The fair was held in the Six Palms room at the Marina Hotel.

Attendance at Kuwait fair

1239 students attended the fair
60% Undergraduate
40% Graduate

60% of the students were Kuwaiti
40% of the students were expats. (Most of the expats were Indian and Pakistani)

The next morning, prior to departure to Abu Dhabi the group visited 3 Private Kuwaiti High Schools..

We had no visa briefing as the group had a briefing in Abu Dhabi.

The group visited 3 private high schools in Abu Dhabi and 2 private high schools in Dubai.

After the school visits, a country and educational briefing was presented by Ms. Rasha Ghannoum, US Embassy educational advisor at the Sheraton hotel.

Ms. Jolanta Mikiewic, Vice Consul US Embassy gave the visa briefing.

The fair was held in the Movenpick Ballroom.

Attendance at Dubai fair:

1200 students attended the fair
65% Undergraduate
35% Graduate

2% of the students were UAE Nationals
98% of the students were expats. (Most of the expats were Indian)