UAE-UK Business Council plans to deliver trade target of £25b by 2020

Dubai - The UAE-UK Business Council held its ninth plenary meeting on Thursday in Abu Dhabi, bringing together business leaders from the UK and UAE.

At its last meeting in May the Council agreed a new ambitious target of £25 billion of bilateral trade by 2020. During the meeting, the Business Council considered how it could develop itself to contribute most effectively to the achievement of this target.
Nasser A. Alsowaidi and Samir Brikho, Co-Chairs of the Business Council, have agreed and signed new terms of Reference for the Business Council.
The UK membership has increased to include Uwe Kruger (Atkins CEO), Makram Azar (Barclays Mena Chairman and Global Vice-Chairman for Investment Banking), Pam Jackson (PwC Middle East Management Board) and Jan Ward (Corrotherm International CEO). The UAE side are also considering additional members.
The Business Council has formed a Manufacturing and Aerospace Working Group, bearing in mind the new UAE National Manufacturing Initiative and the hosting of the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit in Abu Dhabi early next year. This will work alongside the existing Working Groups in Energy, Financial & Professional Services, SMEs, Education & Training, Infrastructure and Healthcare.
The Business Council reinforced its commitment to promote innovation and the Working Groups identified priorities for the next five years and specific outcomes for the next 12 months. These include various UAE health missions to the UK, a seminar on Building Information Modelling in Abu Dhabi and raising awareness within the SME community of the "The Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Fund to Finance Innovation".
Nasser A. Alsowaidi, Co-Chair of the UAE-UK Business Council and chairman of the Abu Dhabi Energy Authority, with his UK Co-Chair, Samir Brikho, Chief Executive of Amec Foster Wheeler confirmed that meeting was about re-calibrating the business council so that it was fit to meet the new challenge. Alsowaidi said:
"We look forward during the next 5 years to endeavor towards the newly established target of the Business Council, through a continuous and collaborative effort with our UK partners, and with the support of the recently established Manufacturing and Aerospace Working Group in addition to the existing working groups spanning across various sectors with a focus on Energy, SMEs development, Health, Education, Infrastructure, and Financial & Professional Services".
Brikho added: "We will repeat our earlier success only by focusing on new areas and being innovative in our approach. I am pleased with how the Working Groups have responded to the challenge. With the new Terms of Reference and additional members, the Council is keen to show that it really does mean business."
The UAE Ambassador to the UK, Abdulrahman Ghanem Al Mutaiwee CVO also commented: "Our bilateral trade and investment relationship can only get stronger in facing new challenges, especially now with the new focus on Innovation and the continuous exploration of new sectors to invest in. I have every faith that the UAE-UK Business Council under the leadership of Nasser Ahmed Alsowaidi and Samir Brikho, will rise to the challenge."
British Ambassador to the UAE, Philip Parham, said: "The bilateral trade and investment relationship is in great shape. Under the leadership of its two Co-Chairs, Nasser Ahmed Alsowaidi and Samir Brikho, the UAE-UK Business Council continues to evolve as a business-led driver of increased bilateral trade and investment."
- business@khaleejtimes.com