A panel discussion on the future of U.S. business and diplomatic relations with Arab countries will highlight a reception to be held at 6 p.m. at the Georgia Institute of Technology on Wednesday, April 28, that is being organized by the international student organization, AIESEC.

The speakers scheduled to participate on the panel are Mourad Dakhli, assistant professor at the Institute of International Business at Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business; Oussama Messoud, who heads AIESEC’s Salaam Initiative; Bachir Mihoubi, president of the Atlanta-based North African American Business Council and James Y. Rayis, a partner in the Atlanta office of the law firm Balch & Bingham LLP, who recently returned from Iraq.

AIESEC is an international student organization that has more than 50,000 members in more than 85 countries and territories worldwide. It facilitates international exchange of thousands of students and recent graduates each year either as paid traineeships or as volunteers for non-profit organizations.

AIESEC’s Salaam Initiative seeks to expand the number of exchanges between the U.S. and the Arab world, the number of Arab countries where AIESEC has a presence and to develop cultural understanding and cooperation among young leaders in the Arab world and the U.S.

During the reception, a book, which is being published in cooperation with www.GlobalAtlanta.com and is entitled AIESEC’s Look at International Issues Affecting Atlanta, will be released.

The book consists of a collection of essays submitted in response to GlobalAtlanta.com’s call for writers on the following topics: concerns related to global health, the impact of the declining value of the dollar, Atlanta and Georgia’s efforts to become the headquarters of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, future business and diplomatic relations with Arab-speaking countries, the value of either an educational- or business-related international internship, issues of importance to attendees of the G8 meeting to be held on Sea Island in June, future relations between Georgia and China and the economic impact of outsourcing manufacturing and service work.

The authors of the essays have been invited to attend the reception that will be held at Georgia Tech’s Wardlaw Center, 177 North Ave. NW, Atlanta, 30332.

The cost of attending is $15 for those who want a copy of the book or $10 for those who only want the PDF version. Students who want a copy of the book are invited to attend for $10. Students who want only the PDF version may attend for $5.

To register for the event, call GlobalAtlanta at (404) 377-7710.