Boeing names John Craig to lead business in the Middle East/Gulf Region

The Boeing Company today named John Craig to the new position of regional vice president in the Middle East with a concentration on the Gulf States.

Craig will coordinate all company business activities enterprise-wide in a number of countries across the region. The creation of this position and its responsibilities are patterned after Boeing locations in other countries and regions, including Saudi Arabia. Craig will be based in the United Arab Emirates; however, Boeing has said it will maintain separate representation in Saudi Arabia.

“The Middle East, and particularly the Arab Gulf region, is a dynamic economic power and home to an increasing number of important customers and partners,” said Boeing Chairman and CEO Phil Condit. “John will help us further develop these relationships with his vast experience and knowledge of the region.”

For more than 50 years, the Boeing Company has had long-standing partnerships in the Middle East. The company has worked closely with businesses, governments and airlines to grow the aerospace industry in the region. 

A former United States ambassador to Oman, Craig will lead the development of Boeing’s strategy across Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Craig will help expand Boeing’s local-market presence and profile and will pursue new revenue-growth opportunities.

“ The strength and increasing stability of the region, together with its inherent growth prospects, provide an excellent opportunity to expand our globalization initiatives in a meaningful way,” said Tom Pickering, Boeing senior vice president, International Relations.

Sales and marketing responsibilities will remain with the business units – Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Integrated Defense Systems, Connexion by Boeing, Boeing Capital Corporation and Air Traffic Management. Craig will support the sales and marketing teams as they conduct their campaigns across the region.

“The Middle East region and Gulf states in particular are poised on the edge of a great opportunity to expand their economic development to a degree not seen since the late 1970s,” Craig said. “Boeing wants to be part of that  expansion, and I will work with the officials and businessmen in the area to help bolster this new growth through transfer of technology and initiatives to create more jobs for the youth of the area. The goal of The Boeing Company is to forge new alliances while building on its existing relationships with these important countries.”

Immediately prior to this assignment, Craig worked for Coanda Effect Inc., an international financial and consulting services group, and traveled  extensively in the Gulf region on behalf of international business clients.

Previously, as a career member of the U.S. Foreign Service, he had numerous assignments both internationally and in the State Department. He pursued his career focus on economic analysis during assignments in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt and Haiti. Craig speaks Arabic, French  and Spanish.

He became deputy chief of mission at the American Embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus followed by a similar posting to the U.S. Embassy in  Bogota, Colombia. On his return to the United States in 1995, he was appointed to head the office of Arabian Peninsula Affairs in the State Department’s Near East Bureau.

Then, in June 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton nominated Craig to be ambassador to Oman. After three years in the post he returned to the United States to be appointed by President George W. Bush as a Special Assistant  to the President. He served on the staff of the National Security Council with Gen. Wayne Downing, Deputy National Security Advisor.