UAE and Britain bilateral trade record unprecedented growth

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The UAE stands as the UK’s 25th largest trading partner and has seen unprecedented growth within the last decade, from Dhs60 billion in 2014 to Dhs 92 billion in 2020. The current year poses to break these numbers and is projected to be approximately Dhs 125 million in the next couple of years.

Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the leading international financial centre in Abu Dhabi, has welcomed a delegation from the United Kingdom (UK) Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS). The delegation was led by  Julia Lopez MP, Minister of State for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure and witnessed the presence and participation of  Patrick Moody, His Majesty’s Ambassador to the UAE.

The Chairman of ADGM,  Ahmed Al Zaabi and ADGM’s senior management members, welcomed and met the UK delegation

With the deeply rooted history of business and bi-lateral relationships, the new leaders from the UK and the UAE have been in recent conversations to review mutual ties and ways to strengthen them.

Commenting on the visit, Ahmed Al Zaabi, Chairman of ADGM said “As the international financial centre based in the capital of the UAE, ADGM is pleased to welcome the esteemed delegation from the UK to Abu Dhabi. With the significant growth of the digital economy in the past few decades, data and digital trade represent a global GDP of nearly 16% which entails an opportunity roughly equivalent to $11 trillion. New age finance continues to be one of the key focus sectors for ADGM as a part of its new “go to market” strategy and will also be a sector that will help drive accelerated growth of our Falcon economy. As an international financial centre, partnerships are essential to realising such global opportunities and benefits of global data flows.”

Julia Lopez, UK Minister of State for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure said: “Data and digital technologies create exciting opportunities for growth and innovation around the world. I look forward to strengthening the UK’s partnership with Abu Dhabi Global Market and working together to promote trusted and secure data flows in the future.”

The delegation was given a tour of the ADGM Courts during the visit. The direct application of English Common Law makes ADGM the first jurisdiction in the Middle East to adopt a similar approach to that of Singapore and Hong Kong. ADGM has been the preferred business and investment destination for many organisations including banks, investment firms, fund management companies and tech start-ups in the region and globally.

The Minister was also given a tour of Hub71, UAE’s thriving tech ecosystem and exciting community of global entrepreneurs, VCs and accelerators based in ADGM’s ecosystem. It connects start-ups and founders with leading Abu Dhabi and global entities in the public and private sectors to drive economic impact and commercial opportunities. The Hub71 Incubator was established within ADGM in partnership with global accelerators such as Plug and Play and Techstars, where both partners run substantial incentive programs that provide subsidies for office space, housing, and medical insurance along with legal and consultancy services for start-ups. It also enables these entrepreneurs to apply for a Golden visa for the talents that are part of the ecosystem. The program removes the complexity and costs associated with establishing new businesses and is continuously intensifying its efforts to strengthen Abu Dhabi’s position globally as an attractive innovation hub for entrepreneurial talent.

Meanwhile, the downturn across most British businesses eased slightly this month but manufacturers struggled and the economy is still likely to contract this quarter, marking a recession, a survey showed on Friday.

The UK S&P Global Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose unexpectedly to 49.0 from 48.2 in November, although it remained below the 50 threshold for growth. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a slight fall to 48.0.

The dominant services sector drove all the improvement as the decline deepened among British manufacturers, which cut jobs for the first time since October 2020.

The survey echoed other signs that the economy is contracting at a slow pace that is not worsening, with price pressures easing further from historically high levels.

Separate data on Friday showed a surprise fall in retail sales in November, while consumer confidence remained close to all-time lows this month.

“The releases still point to the UK being in a shallow, but protracted, recession at the end of 2022 and into 2023,” said Daniel Mahoney, UK economist at Handelsbanken.

Composite PMIs from other European countries painted a similar picture, although Britain’s reading bettered those of France and Germany for the first time since July.