On November 12-15, 2018, in Abu Dhabi, CLDP supported U.S. Consul General to the Southern Governorates Timothy Davis in reassuring U.S. oil and gas industry representatives of the U.S. government’s commitment to support the development of economic and legal environment in southern Iraq. Recently, the U.S. Department of State made an unprecedented move to close diplomatic and military operations in southern Iraq, due to rising costs and security concerns. The closure severely impacted U.S.-Iraq relations, specifically southern provincial diplomatic engagement.  U.S. companies were concerned that the lack of U.S. presence in Basrah would hamper their operations and future works. In an effort to ease concerns and provide a new economic and diplomatic strategy for U.S. engagement in southern Iraq, CLDP organized a series of meetings for Consul General Davis on the margins of the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exposition, the world’s leading conference on oil and gas. Meetings, organized in coordination with the bilateral U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Commercial Service in the United Arab Emirates, included Exxon, Chevron, Honeywell UOP, Halliburton, Excelerate Energy, Siemens USA, and other notable engineering, procurement, and construction service providers. In addition to the meetings, CLDP and Consul General Davis are coordinating closely to develop creative ways to sustain engagements with local stakeholders (government and private sector) for the coming year to continue to provide the needed support for U.S. companies working and seeking work in Iraq’s southern governorates.