Edward Burton

Edward Burton is the president and chief executive officer of the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council. Mr. Burton works with the American and Saudi public and private sectors to promote the interests of the U.S.-Saudi Arabian bilateral commercial relationship. During his career, Mr. Burton has counseled hundreds of Fortune 500 companies as well as small and mid-sized companies in many industries. Prior to joining the Business Council Mr. Burton served as the Commercial Attaché at the American Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where he managed a staff of 27 officers, commercial specialists and other local direct hire personnel serving offices in the cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dhahran. He was responsible for all U.S. Foreign Commercial Service (USFCS) operations in Saudi Arabia and had oversight of all USFCS management, administrative and fiscal matters in the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in the Kingdom. He also supervised USFCS operations in Manama, Bahrain at that time through a partnership arrangement with the U.S. Embassy in Manama. Mr. Burton was also appointed directly by former U.S. Commerce Secretary Donald Evans to serve as the USFCS Regional Coordinator for the agency’s Iraq Reconstruction Regional Initiative. Before diplomatic service, Mr. Burton was the Network Director of the U.S. Export Assistance Center in Philadelphia overseeing USFCS offices in five U.S. Northeast States. Prior to federal government service, he served former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman as the Director of the State of New Jersey’s International Trade Office and practiced law with the New Jersey law firm Cooper Levenson. Mr. Burton obtained his B.A. from the University of Charleston and his J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law. He was certified in international trade and management by the Thunderbird School of International Business and by the Harvard Business School of Publishing. He is the author of the upcoming book “Business and Entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia” published by John Wiley & Sons (October 2016)