Edward Burton has actively advised thousands of companies engaged in international trade and investment in markets around the world for over 35 years. He currently serves as chief executive officer and president of the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council, the premier U.S.-based private-sector organization promoting trade and investment between the United States and the Saudi Kingdom. Mr. Burton has counseled hundreds of Fortune 500 companies as well as thousands of small and middle-tier firms during the course of his professional career. Having lived and worked in Saudi Arabia as an American diplomat in the U.S. embassy in Riyadh, and the U.S. consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran, Mr. Burton has a unique insider's knowledge about the country, its business community, and how business gets done in the Kingdom.

Mr. Burton is a frequent speaker at roundtables and panel discussions across the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Saudi Arabia's trade relations. He has had numerous television interviews and articles published by recognized industry magazines such as Fortune, Offshore magazine, Water World, and Nuclear Power International.

Mr. Burton has accumulated over 27 years of experience in trade promotion and international business development. Before joining the Business Council, Mr. Burton served as the commercial attaché at the American embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 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, 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.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Burton was the U.S. Department of Commerce Network Director of the U.S. Export Assistance Center (USEAC) in Philadelphia and as such had primary management responsibility for USEAC offices in seven northeast U.S. states. Before joining the U.S. department of commerce, he served former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman as the State of New Jersey's international trade director.

Mr. Burton holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science from the University of Charleston and a doctor of jurisprudence degree from the Dickinson School of Law. He practiced law in New Jersey with the law firm Cooper Levenson. He also received certified international trade and management training at the Thunderbird School of International Business and the Harvard Business School of Publishing.