LONDON: Business between Britain and the UAE will prove pivotal for combating climate change while also driving progress in fields such as life sciences, fintech and artificial intelligence, Lord Gerry Grimstone, the UK’s minister of state for investment, said at a talk hosted by the Emirates Society and the UK-UAE Business Council, and attended by Arab News.

The talk, titled “The Emirates at 50: Accelerating UAE-UK business collaboration and investment,” was attended by Lord Edward Udny-Lister — UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s former chief of staff and current envoy to the Gulf — and UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al-Zeyoudi.

The speakers discussed the possibility of a future free-trade agreement between the UK and the UAE, opportunities for further investment in both countries, and ways of leveraging their relationship to the benefit not just of each other but the wider region.

Al-Zeyoudi noted that over 120,000 British nationals live in the UAE, representing the strength of cultural as well as commercial ties between the two countries.

This was reinforced, Grimstone said, by the fact that the Gulf Cooperation Council represents the UK’s third-largest global export market, behind just China and the US.

“The UAE alone is the UK’s 20th-largest export market, accounting for no less than £10 billion ($13.85 billion) of exports in the four quarters to Q3 last year,” he added.

The strength of the relationship, he said, will allow greater development in the areas most important to the Green Industrial Revolution, with over 6,000 UK companies already operating in the UAE.

Udney-Lister said this is reflected in a recent strategic partnership between the UK and UAE in life sciences, with a total of over £1 billion invested by the two governments — the largest commitment, he believes, that any British government has made in such a field.

The upcoming COP26 Summit in Glasgow in November will be preceded by Johnson hosting Emirati investors in the UK in October, Grimstone said, where the prime minister will set out a 10-point plan for his vision for “Global Britain” at roughly the same time that British businesses will take part in Dubai Expo 2021.

These two events, Grimstone suggested, will lay the ground for even more progress in the field of sustainability which, Al-Zeyoudi said, is increasingly being driven by the private sector. 

“It’s not any more the decision of … negotiators to decide on the slowing down of the whole process of movements on climate change. It’s becoming more business-oriented,” Al-Zeyoudi added. 

“Sustainability and green technology are becoming the norm for the new generations, and consumption is putting a lot of pressure on investors to change the way they run their businesses.

“There have been so many projects between the UK and UAE when it comes to green energy — Masdar has been investing in many wind projects in the UK and even e-mobility lately as well.

“One of the things that’s going to be announced as well later this week … is the new partnership when it comes to green hydrogen.

“We do see the commercial aspects of green investments, and we look forward to the COP26 results later this year.”

Grimstone said: “I’m well aware of some very exciting projects that are being looked at in the fields of hydrogen, of carbon capture.

“The diversification we’re seeing in the UAE economy is very exciting, and I’m expecting that the leading energy companies will want to be at the forefront of this green revolution.

“It’s very interesting that the UAE is already emerging as one of the key prospective investors there.”

The panel also discussed the possibility of future free-trade agreements between the UK post-Brexit and the GCC, with Al-Zeyoudi noting that the UAE is set to sign economic partnership agreements with eight countries in the coming weeks, including with the UK.

“Discussions have been there for the past few months,” he said, adding that topics on the table ranged went beyond trade, extending to investment and economic services. 

Grimstone said engagement with the UAE, which he said is at the “crossroads” of the Middle East, South Asia and Africa, would give the UK an opportunity to position itself to the region as a neutral, alternative partner in many fields to the US and China, given escalating economic tensions between the two powers. 

“Of course we want to see Britain as one of the great global nations, with what I like to think of as impartial and professional standards,” he added.

“I like to think that professionalism, in its widest guise, is really one of Britain’s greatest exports.

“I think our service exports to the Gulf and the UAE are only going to grow, and I think through that spreading of professionalism … real long-term power comes through these long-term influencing mechanisms.”