Page 151 - ALEF EDUCATION PR REPORT MARCH 2025

UAE is a 'hugely important economy' for UK, minister says

Story by Fareed Rahman

• 2w •
3 min read

The UK aims to deepen its trade and investment partnership with the UAE and is seeking more
dual listings on the London Stock Exchange to further strengthen ties in the financial sector,
according to the UK's newly appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury.

The UAE is a “hugely important economy for us ... [the two countries have a] historically close
relationship”, Emma Reynolds told The National in an interview. “We signed an MoU
[memorandum of understanding] together on financial services in October 2023. So I've been
discussing where we can have concrete follow-up steps, whether it's progress on dual listings
that we'd like to see, or on further exchanging ideas around open banking and FinTech and,
indeed, sustainable finance.”
Last year, the Abu Dhabi investment and holding company ADQ issued its inaugural $2.5 billion
bond, which has a primary listing on the LSE and a secondary listing on the ADX. The dual-
tranche bond included five and 10-year tenors and was oversubscribed more than 4.4 times.

The trade and investment ties between the two countries are growing, with majority of the UK
firms in the region choosing the UAE to set up their headquarters and operate in the wider
region, Ms Reynolds said.

“We already have fantastic investments from this country in our clean energy, in tech, in football
as well. So really, already, we have that close partnership and lots of UK firms are based here,
which we think is a win-win situation.”

Some of the UAE's investments in the UK include ports operator DP World’s £2.7 billion ($3.39
billion) investment in Southampton Port, London Gateway and P&O Ferries as well as Abu Dhabi
clean energy company Masdar’s £4 billion investment in UK renewable energy.

https://www.msn.com/en-ae/money/news/uae-is-a-hugely-important-economy-for-uk-
minister-says/ar-AA1A76XE?ocid=BingNewsSerp