I’m delighted to be visiting the United Arab Emirates for the first time as UK Trade and Investment Minister particularly during ‘GREAT Week UAE’.
As part of GREAT Week, a varied group of British companies from the retail, luxury and creative industries — including a number of award winning companies — are here in the UAE to showcase their world-leading products and demonstrate the excellence that the UK has to offer.
UAE consumers have long been attracted to the heritage, range and sophistication of British brands. With a fantastic collection of exciting events, ‘GREAT Week’ will bring British expertise to the fore in the UAE through the introduction of new desirable brands and re-familiarisation with classics.
The week’s activities will also foster important business to business contact that will reinforce UK-UAE partnerships in the fields of design, retail and architecture, and create lasting networks. British companies remain at the cutting edge of global creativity and have so much to offer this vibrant trading nation in the Gulf. That’s what makes us natural partners.
I’m proud of the contribution made by British companies to the extraordinary development of the UAE and I firmly believe such success comes from a partnership based on friendship and trust. The trade and investment that exists between our two countries is testament of the strength of this partnership. Some 120,000 British nationals choose to live and work in the UAE and there are over 4,000 British companies operating here including Shell, Rolls Royce, and HSBC.
But we want to encourage more business between our countries. That is why we have committed to opening two new British Centres for Business, to support Britain’s small and mid-sized firms, providing them with a soft landing to test the waters and see if the market is a good fit for their goods or services. Support will include fully serviced office space at heavily discounted rates, and practical support in establishing a presence here. The first of the Centres will open in Dubai in April, the second will open in Abu Dhabi later this year.
We also welcome continued investment from the UAE into the UK. The impressive DP World London Gateway Project near the mouth of the River Thames is Europe’s most ambitious ports and logistics centre; the London Array is the world’s largest offshore wind farm and Emirati investment into Manchester City is turning the club into one of the world’s greatest football teams. In fact, thousands of Emiratis come to the UK as tourists, students or to do business. For Emiratis looking to do business, I am delighted that UKTI now has an investment team in place in the UAE – and in three other markets in the Gulf – to support firms to quantify and assess market opportunities in the UK, find the right investments and identify the best channels for growth.
The UAE remains Britain’s largest civil export market in the Middle East and the twelfth largest in the world. Our two governments have committed to an ambitious target to increase bilateral trade to £12bn/AED 73bn by 2015 and I am pleased to note that we are well on the way to achieving that. There is clearly potential for UK and UAE companies to do business together. That is why my visit here and the GREAT Week UAE are so significant.
I have every confidence that this relationship will continue to grow. It is a relationship that matters enormously to the UK, and we will continue to put every effort into making sure it continues to flourish and prosper.
Lord Livingston, UK Minister for Trade & Investment.
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