UK of cial values great strides in bilateral, trade ties
MUSCAT — Alistair Burt, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in-Charge of the Middle East and North Africa at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Of ce and Head of the UK side in the Omani- UK Joint Working Group, hailed the bilateral relations, af rming the keenness of the two countries in enhancing these relations.
In an interview with Oman News Agency (ONA), he said that his visit to the Sultanate aims at meeting with of cials to discuss means of enhancing the growing relations in all educational, economic, investment and tourism elds, as well as other elds of the common concern. He pointed out the importance of bene ting from the distinguished bilateral relations in expanding the scope of co-operation in economic and investment areas.
He touched on the Omani-UK Joint Working Group, which was formed during the visit of Queen Elizabeth to the Sultanate in November 2010, af rming that the group will contribute in promoting the relations, as well as opening new horizons for co-operation in education and training besides the trade co-operation in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
The UK of cial af rmed that previous meetings of the group contributed in the convergence of views to achieve further co-operation in all spheres, besides providing various opportunities for partnership between the two sides in educational, trade and investment areas. He explained that there is a section in the UK Embassy in Muscat that works to enhance trade and investments between the two countries as it provides the UK investors with information about the investment opportunities in the Sultanate.
He added that UK companies have investments in the Sultanate as they are also keen to invest in the huge projects in the Sultanate, such as in Duqm project and Sohar Free Zone.
He said that the volume of UK exports to the Sultanate in 2011 stood at £389 million and the volume of UK invisible exports in the same year stood at £148 million while the volume of Omani exports to the UK stood at £168 million. He stressed the importance of activating co-operation in all trade and investment elds, which will be re ected positively on the volume of trade exchange between the two countries.
The UK of cial touched on the vital role being played by the Sultanate in the GCC system, valuing the good-neighbour policy pursued by the Sultanate's government, which is re ected on the strong relations that bind the Sultanate with all countries of the region.
As for the recent situations in the Middle East and the Arab world and the UK-Arab relations, he af rmed that UK enjoys distinguished relations with all countries of the region, particularly countries that underwent transitional stages, such as Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen. He af rmed that the UK government supports the new authorities that seek to provide means of descent life for their peoples.
The UK of cial af rmed the support of his government to the Arab Peace Initiative to settle the Palestinian issue, as well as other steps that are based on dialogue to settle the thorny issues in the Middle East, such as the Iranian nuclear le and the unrest in Syria. — ONA