Mr. Saud Al Nowais serves as the Commercial Attaché (Counselor) for the United Arab Emirates to the US and took office in July 2009. Since then, he has focused on strengthening the bilateral trade relationship between the US and the UAE, assisting both countries in identifying mutually beneficial trade and investment opportunities. Mr. Al Nowais operates at all levels of government and business in a continued effort to bring prosperity and growth to both economies as well as facilitate the development of commercial relationships between the two nations. He is also an active angel investor in MENA based startups and is the founder of Goldcleats.com, an online platform and phone app for young soccer players looking to get recruited to play professionally. Mr. Al Nowais is invested in over 65 early stage US startups through his investment in the Arab Angel Venture Fund. He serves as an active advisor to KBBO Ventures, Arab Angel VC, and several MENA based incubators. He received his bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the American University of Sharjah (AUS) and graduated from the American Community School of Abu Dhabi (ACS). He also holds a master’s degree in Strategic Intelligence & Security Studies from the U.S. National Defense University - College of International Security Affairs in Washington, DC.