UK PM urges companies to invest in Gulf
Theresa May to attend GCC summit in Bahrain
LONDON, Dec 5, (KUNA): The British Government has apprised local companies of 30 billion sterling pounds worth of investment opportunities in the Arabian Gulf countries, the Premiership said in a statement on Monday.
Prime Minister Theresa May flies to Bahrain, later on Monday, for a two-day summit with leaders from the Gulf countries at which she will seek agreement to scope out the possibilities for ambitious new free trade arrangements between the UK and the Gulf once the UK has left the EU.
She will become the first British Prime Minister and the first woman to attend the annual gathering of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The government has identified 30 billion of high-value opportunities for British businesses across 15 different sectors over the next 5 years in the Gulf and the Prime Minister will announce that the UK will participate in the Dubai World Expo 2020, continuing a tradition that started here with the Great Exhibition of the Works and Industry of All Nations in Hyde Park in 1851, and bringing together over 180 nations.
Beyond this, any free trade arrangement between the UK and the Gulf could unlock significantly more trade and would be the first regional approach that the UK has explored since deciding to leave the EU. The Prime Minister is expected to agree with Gulf leaders to establish a new joint working group to examine how “we can unblock remaining barriers to trade and take steps to build the closest, freest trading relationship between the UK and the Gulf post Brexit,” official statement said.
The statement quoted the premier as saying on eve of her visit to Manama, “the Gulf is already our largest investor and our second biggest non-European export market and I think there is huge potential to expand this relationship in the years ahead. Thats why it is such an honour to be invited to attend the Gulf Co-operation Council where I will have the opportunity to talk to all six leaders about how we can develop our trade relationship, as well as co-operation on security and defence.
“Across these six countries, there are exciting opportunities for British business, from energy to education, infrastructure to healthcare and here in the UK, investment from the Gulf is helping to regenerate cities from Aberdeen to Teeside, Manchester to London.
“As the UK leaves the EU, we should seize the opportunity to forge a new trade arrangement between the UK and the Gulf. This could transform the way we do business and lock in a new level of prosperity for our people for generations to come.”