UK financial services firms will retain rights in EU: Johnson
FROM P9 with the refinery’s capital power plant.
Authorities also envision any supply contingencies being addressed by a proposed initiative to link the Main Interconnected System (serving much of the northern half of Oman) with Duqm. OPWP is currently working with the transmission utility, Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC), and Petroleum Development Oman (which operates a private network serving the oilfield areas) to evaluate the feasibility of constructing a 400 kV transmission line linking the MIS with Duqm, and the PDO and Dhofar Systems as well.
“Subject to approval, this would provide Duqm with access to power generation resources in the MIS system. Once Duqm develops as a major industrial and economic centre, it will require this link to provide for grid stability and security,” OPWP stressed.
To meet potable water demand growth, OPWP has already kicked off the tendering process for the procurement of a 60,000 cubic metres per day (13.2 million imperial gallons per day — MIGD) capacity seawater desalination plant in Duqm. The plant is expected to reach commercial operation in Q4 2019. NEW YORK: British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he expects the UK to retain the right for its financial firms to sell services across European Union member states after Britain’s exit from the bloc.
Johnson, speaking to reporters in New York and the United Nations headquarters, also said Britain has been approached by several countries interested in trade deals after UK voters chose last month in a referendum to secede from the European Union.
The British government needs to negotiate a new relationship with the EU once London triggers Article 50, the formal start of divorce talks, which could take a year or longer. One main concern that remains is whether Britain’s financial services sector will keep its so-called “passporting” rights, and when asked if he believed that would be maintained, Johnson said: “I do. I do.”
Passporting is a lynchpin feature of the EU’s single market, especially for banks, as it allows firms to provide services to clients across the EU. The loss of it for UK-based firms could cripple London’s standing as a global financial centre.
“There are two reasons for optimism about London,” Johnson said.
First, London offers the deepest pools of liquidity, talent and skill for the capitalformation needs of businesses across Europe, he said. “In the European time zone, London is the place to do it. That will continue.”
Second, an open relationship for goods and services is essential given the depth of trading between Britain and the continent, he said. “It’s very much in the interest of both parties to keep those flows going.”