OUR MAN IN LONDON WANTS TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR EMIRATIS TO JOIN HIM
▶ Sulaiman Al Mazroui, Ambassador to the Court of St James’s, explains to Daniel Bardsley how he wants UK visa rules relaxed – so more people can experience his adopted city
Sulaiman Al Mazroui has already helped the UAE to strike one key agreement to allow its citizens to travel more freely to Europe. Now, as ambassador at the UAE Embassy in London, this experienced diplomat is looking to forge another such deal – this time with a country with which he has a strong personal association.
A little more than two years ago that the European parliament voted to give Emiratis visa-free travel throughout the Schengen zone, a decision widely welcomed in the Emirates. At the time, Mr Al Mazroui was based in Brussels as head of the UAE Mission to the European Union, making him one of the pivotal officials who helped to smooth the path to the decision.
In the middle of last year, this former academic and businessman moved on from Belgium, becoming the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the Court of St James’s, to use his formal title. The hope is that, after success with the EU, Mr Al Mazroui can help to persuade British officials that cutting immigration red tape for Emirati visitors is a good thing.
During an interview at the UAE Embassy in Knightsbridge, he said he was “surprised that the UK has not followed suit … after seeing the EU major breakthrough”, which applied to the 26 Schengen countries and eight non-Schengen nations. These nations were, he said, benefiting from the arrangement, describing visa-free travel for Emiratis as “a win-win situation”.
“Our citizens travel for tourism, education, [medical] treatment, investment, study. Why would a country not allow them to come and invest or study?” he said.
Currently, Emiratis must apply for an electronic visa waiver (EVW) to enter the UK, a requirement Mr Al Mazroui would like to see scrapped. He suggested the need for an EVW could be affecting the number of Emiratis who travel to the UK, where earlier in his career he spent several years carrying out postgraduate research.
“Obviously the UK is the most demanded destination for our citizens. If tomorrow we have citizens travelling visa-free, you will see an influx of tourists,” he said.
“The number, I have noticed, is dwindling … sometimes people worry about the visa. With the online visa now, you still have complications – a little mistake here and there, you get rejected.”
Embassy figures indicate that about 50,000 Emirati citizens visit the UK each year and there are about 2,000 UAE nationals studying in the country.
The EVW, which is also available to Kuwaiti, Omani and Qatari citizens, costs £15 (Dh71.6) and must be applied for at least 48 hours before travel. Recipients can spend up to six months in the UK for
We advise our citizens to behave responsibly when they travel abroad; sometimes you get the odd misbehaviour
business, tourism, education or medical treatment, but only a single entry is permitted, which Mr Al Mazroui said could prove inconvenient for some travellers keen to also go to mainland Europe.
“If you want to go [from the UK] to France for the day, you cannot – it’s valid [for] one go only,” he said. An interim aim of the UAE authorities, he said, was for the EVW to become a multiple-entry permit. Its complete scrapping is, however, the ultimate ambition, being “something we aspire to”.
“The visa is one of the most important aspects of any relations. If you have that done, the rest will follow – investment, tourism,” he said.
Mr Al Mazroui said he hoped the British authorities would “understand the need” for the EVW requirement to end.
“We don’t have people to export or who come and stay over. [The UK is] benefiting from them here compared with the large number of people coming from other countries.” he said.
Mr Al Mazroui’s stint in Brussels lasted five years and as well as being Head of the UAE Mission to the European Union, he was UAE Ambassador to Belgium and to Luxembourg. For the first two years relations with Nato also came under his responsibility.
“So it was a handful. We went through a lot of experiences, particularly in regards to the Schengen waiver for UAE citizens. That was our major project in the EU,” he said.
“The UAE is the second-largest Arab economy and in almost all of the European countries the UAE is the number one trading partner. With the EU it’s more than €50 billion (Dh215.8bn) in trade.
“Five years on, I was asked to move on, to the west … and probably because I succeeded with the visa-waiver with Schengen for the UAE, I will be able to do something here. We’re trying.”
Away from diplomacy, looking after the interests of the many Emiratis who are already in the UK is a priority.
Mr Al Mazroui is keen to ensure that the regular summer press reports about speeding supercar drivers in central London, a phenomenon often linked to visitors from the Arabian Gulf, do not unfairly affect the reputation of Emiratis in the UK.
“I wouldn’t say a lot of UAE nationals are doing that – maybe one or two irresponsible kids are behaving in such a manner,” he said.
“We’re a lot less than the rest of the Gulf countries. We advise our citizens to adhere to responsible behaviour when they travel abroad.
“They feel comfortable here; it’s welcoming. Sometimes you get the odd misbehaviour; we tend to take action when we know about it. The authorities back home have always been quite decisive when it comes to bad behaviour abroad. It tarnishes the image when it happens.”
Although now a seasoned ambassador, Mr Al Mazroui’s professional experience extends well beyond diplomatic compounds and government offices.
He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the American University in Washington
DC and later moved to Cambridge in the United Kingdom where he completed several years of postgraduate research. His life in academia continued at the UAE University in Al Ain, where between 1980 and 1988 he was a member of the Faculty of Political Science and Administration.
He has held many senior roles in the business world, including as general manager for group corporate communications at Emirates NBD. He was also chairman of the Dubai Transport Corporation and of the Bankers’ Business Group in Dubai and has been on the board of numerous other major firms, including Dubai World and Emirates Islamic Bank.
He regards experience in the private sector as enormously beneficial.
“It’s very funny, because finishing international relations, then going into banking, it’s not by plan.
“It’s by some desire of God, higher designs … but I learnt so much from the private sector,” he said.
“My children, when they finish university, I would recommend that they go into banking, even if it’s for a short period of time.
“They will have that environment to learn from. They will have to be on time. And there are fantastic training programmes from the private sector that teach you so much.”