AmCham Libya reported to Libya Herald that it hosted a meeting in Tripoli with senior U.S. Embassy officials, including Chargé d’affaires Jeremy Berndt and Department of Commerce Commercial Attaché Keith Kirkham, on Tuesday 21 May.
AmCham members, it revealed, had the opportunity to hear from Embassy officials about recent developments that impact U.S. companies doing business in Libya and discuss issues of interest with the visiting officials.
Leading U.S. companies active in Libya attended, including AbbVie, Caterpillar, ConocoPhillips, GardaWorld, GE Vernova Halliburton, Hertz, Hill International, Medtronic, Merck, Orkin, PepsiCo, SLB and Visa.
The U.S. Government officials, it added, passed the message about the importance of commercial engagement between the U.S. and Libya. The evidence of this has been the policy, since 2023, to strongly support visa issuance for Libyan businesspeople to attend trade fairs and other business-related meetings in the U.S.
The companies present had the opportunity to ask questions of the officials, which included things such as what the U.S. Government perception was about the future economic prospects in Libya, whether there will be U.S. Consular services offered in Libya and how to convince reluctant U.S. companies to more energetically engage in Libya.
Debbie Hirst, President of Amcham Libya, told Libya Herald, “We were thrilled to receive the Embassy visitors. It shows the priority the U.S. Government is putting on the commercial sector and adds support to our belief that commercial engagement can be transformational for the future of Libya.
The Embassy informed the group that they intend to engage more frequently in the future, and we are grateful for that, and look forward to supporting them in their efforts on the commercial side.”
