Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor held talks with Terence R. McAuliffe, the Governor of Virginia at the Al Habtoor Head Office on Al Wasl Road on Monday November 16, 2015.
They discussed the Chairman’s recent visit to the United States where he delivered a keynote speech at the 24th Annual Arab US Policymakers Conference in Washington DC, titled ‘Call for Action’. The strongly worded speech focused on key Middle East issues as well as the upcoming US Presidential election, where Al Habtoor urged Americans to elect a “strong leader.”
Al Habtoor and McAuliffe also discussed the recent terror attacks in Paris. Al Habtoor said “My heart goes out to all Parisians and foreign visitors whose lives will forever be impacted by the actions of evil creatures who have forfeited the right to be called humans let alone Muslims.
Gov. McAuliffe is in the UAE to raise awareness about potential investments in Virginia, and invited Al Habtoor to invest in the state. The Governor is behind a campaign called ‘Building a new Virginia Economy’, which aims to boost the economy and create more jobs. Investing in the future is key to the economic drive.
“I am always on the lookout for sound investments in the US,” Al Habtoor said. Over the past few years the Chairman has increased his international portfolio abroad buying two hotels in Budapest and one in the US – The President Abraham Lincoln Springfield – A DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Springfield, Illinois.
It was the first meeting between the Al Habtoor Group Chairman and Gov. McAuliffe. McAuliffe, the 72nd Governor of Virginia, and was introduced to Al Habtoor through former President Jimmy Carter. He worked on President Carter’s re-election campaign, and became the national finance director by the age of 22. Governor McAuliffe previously served as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005, was co-chairman of President Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign, and was chairman of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.