Hagir H.

Elawad

Senior Policy Advisor

mailto:helawad@akingump.comhelawad@akingump.com

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Washington, D.C.

+1 202.887.4303

+1 202.887.4288

Key Experience

Served for a decade as legislative affairs director for the U.A.E. Embassy in the United States and was the
country’s lead representative to the U.S. Congress.

Focuses on national security, foreign affairs and international trade in the MENA region.

Has extensive experience with the U.S. Departments of Defense and State on Foreign Military Sales,
export controls and sanctions.

Practice

Prior to joining Akin Gump, Hagir Elawad served as a senior advisor to the U.A.E. government in the
United States. She created and led the U.A.E. Embassy’s (“Embassy’s”) Congressional Affairs Section and
Political-Military Affairs portfolio, where she engaged with the U.S. Congress and U.S. Executive Branch
agencies on key areas of U.S.-U.A.E. bilateral cooperation. In this capacity, Hagir focused on:

Bilateral and regional agreements

Energy

International trade

Defense and intelligence cooperation

Government procurement

Aviation and aerospace

Export controls

Energy

Sanctions

Counterterrorism and counterextremism

Labor and human rights

Women’s rights.

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Representative Work

Led the Embassy’s effort to ensure congressional approval of the U.S.-U.A.E. 123 Agreement for Peaceful
Civilian Nuclear Energy Cooperation. The agreement, which enabled the U.A.E. to receive nuclear
training, materials and equipment from the United States, is known as the non-proliferation “gold
standard,” because the U.A.E. agreed to forego the right to enrich its own uranium.

Coordinated efforts to obtain congressional approval for the first overseas sale of the multibillion-dollar
Lockheed Martin Corporation Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD) to the United Arab
Emirates.

Secured congressional support to establish a U.S. Customs pre-clearance facility in Abu Dhabi—the first
of its kind in the Middle East.

Supported efforts to reaffirm and apply the U.S.-U.A.E. Open Skies Agreement and the U.S.-U.A.E. Tax
Treaty, and to establish U.S.-U.A.E. Economic Dialogue.

Public Service and Affiliations

Languages

Arabic

French

Spanish

Italian