Meet your host, Doug Barry, and today's guest:

Nancy Charles-Parker
U.S Counselor for Commercial Affairs
United Arab Emirates
Nancy Charles-Parker is the Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S Embassy in Abu Dhabi. From May 1997 until May 2000 she was director of the Rocky Mountain U.S Export Assistance Center in Denver, Colorado. The USEAC assists U.S exporters in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming and West Texas. It combines the efforts of the U.S Department of Commerce, Small Business Administration, and Export-Import Bank to assist exporters. Under her leadership the USEAC-assisted client exports increased from $15 million to $245 million a year. During this time she also served short assignments as Senior Commercial Officer in South Africa and Azerbaijan.

From 1994 until 1997, Ms. Charles-Parker was U.S Commercial Attaché at the U.S Embassy in London. She had responsibility for U.S commercial activities in Northern Ireland and supervised U.K market research and client outreach in energy, medical technology and a number of high-tech sectors. Prior to becoming Commercial Attaché, she directed the International Marketing Center in the U.S Embassy, London, which annually coordinates 100 conferences and product events in support of U.S exports.

From 1992 until 1994 Ms. Charles-Parker was a Commercial Officer in Taiwan, responsible for assisting U.S firms secure environmental, power, transportation and other major infrastructure projects.

Before joining the Commercial Service, Ms. Charles-Parker was a Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State as an economic officer from 1980 to 1991 in Jakarta, Brussels, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, and Washington D.C. Her portfolios included shipping, export controls, energy, trade policy and Indochina affairs.

In the 1970's she managed recreational programs and facilities at Torrejon Air Base, Spain, was an administrator at Columbia University, and raised funds and conducted public relations for a non-profit youth development organization in Philadelphia.

Ms. Charles-Parker has a M.A from Columbia University and completed further graduate work at Columbia University, Yale University and the University of Madrid. Her foreign languages include Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Indonesian, and French. In 1999 the Department of Commerce awarded her the Silver Medal for leadership.

Doug Barry
Director of Communications
U.S. Commercial Service
Doug Barry joined the U.S. Commercial Service, the global business solutions unit of the Department of Commerce, in 1998. Barry has served as an international trade specialist, helping U.S. companies enter emerging markets in Russia and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union. He earned his undergraduate degree from San Francisco State University and has graduate degrees from New York University and Columbia University.

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Market Briefs -- a combination of videoconference and streaming media technologies -- brings you real-time Commercial Service global market insights and opportunities from around the world. The United Arab Emirates Market Brief interview, taped in September 2002, is brought to you by the International Trade Administration, Commercial Service, U.S. Department of Commerce. The use of trade, firm, or corporation names within this Webcast or on the surrounding pages, or links to Web sites outside the U.S. Federal Government are for the convenience of the user. Such use does not constitute an official endorsement or approval of any private sector Web site, product or service by the U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Commerce Department.