Simin Yazdegerdi Curtis, president and founder of the American Middle East Institute, led a delegation of members of the Institute to the Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat, Oman on Monday.

AMEI is a non-profit and independent organization, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which seeks to strengthen cultural, educational and business ties between the United States and countries of the Middle East.

Professor Amer bin Ali al Rawas greeted the AMEI delegates in his capacity as SQU deputy Vice-Chancellor for Postgraduate Studies and Research, along with other official representatives of the university.

During the discussions with the officials from SQU Simin Curtis explained that AMEI is in the perfect position to introduce Pittsburgh’s leading institutions and corporations to the Middle East. Due to their broad knowledge of the region, understanding of the culture and their well-forged corporate and business ties AMEI can more easily succeed at the high-profile networking events for which AMEI has earned a positive reputation.

The group of delegates considered the possibility of obtaining the support of academics from SQU to populate the intensive programs in Arabic which AMEI offers, as well as having them participate in other cultural and business connected activities which focus on the Middle East.

In a statement which urged the delegates to go forward to forge partnerships in the academic, educational and cultural spheres, Curtis said,

“We urge young professionals and business students to do business in Oman. We would like to host Omani students for the academic programs starting in the summer this year.”