At some point over the next eighteen months, there will be a General Election in Britain. It is difficult, so far in advance, to predict the outcome of that election, but current opinion polls, coupled with the results of the early May local elections in England and Wales and subsequent Parliamentary by-elections, suggest that there is a real possibility of a change in Government that would lead to a Conservative administration replacing Labour, which has been in power since 1997.

If that occurs, it would have a wide-reaching impact throughout Britain and would lead to a number of changes internally, as well as to a different emphasis in a number of key foreign policy issues. These are well outside the scope of activities of the British Business Group and of its objectives of promoting the relationship between Britain and Abu Dhabi in the economic, educational and other fields.

It seems timely, though, to look ahead to how a future Conservative Government in Britain would assess the importance of that relationship between Britain and Abu Dhabi and the broader United Arab Emirates. I have made several visits myself to the UAE, including Abu Dhabi, and, as Vice-Chairman of the UK-UAE All-Party Parliamentary Group, perhaps I may be permitted to give a few pointers as to how I would see that relationship continuing to develop.

First, let me say that the Conservative Party today – and any future Conservative Government – is fully aware of the importance of the relationship that currently exists between our two countries. It was, of course, a Conservative Government that was in power in London in 1971, when the federation of the United Arab Emirates was founded, and that signed the first treaty of friendship between the two countries. And a Conservative Government was in power for all but six of the years between 1971 and 1997, so we have a history of being aware of the ties between us.

Much has moved on since then, of course. The British expatriate community in the UAE, including Abu Dhabi, is the largest anywhere in the Middle East and the Emirates is now visited by millions of British tourists every year. British business, too, has thrived, and, as BBG members well know, is actively engaged in building a deeper partnership between our two countries from which both are benefiting, and will continue to benefit in the future.

There is a steady flow of investment that is diversifying British involvement in the UAE economy away from the traditional sectors of oil and gas and civil engineering. We now see growing involvement in new sectors, such as architecture, where companies like Foster + Partners are set to contribute in a very substantial way to the emerging landscape of the new Abu Dhabi, or in construction and property. Collaboration in education and culture is being matched by working together in fields such as environmental conservation, and I am particularly pleased to hear that the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, EAD, is now working with Britain’s DEFRA on a new international agreement to protect endangered birds of prey and that many British companies are involved in the vital ground-breaking research and development being undertaken as part of Abu Dhabi’s Masdar Initiative on future energy. And I was particularly pleased to welcome Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Masdar’s CEO, to the House of Commons to personally address MPs on 8th June this year.

On the other side of the coin, there is, too, new growth in terms of investment from the UAE, including Abu Dhabi, coming into Britain, such as the recent purchase by the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company, ADNEC, of ExCeL, one of Britain’s major exhibition and event organisers, and, more recently, the purchase of Manchester City Football Club. We welcome such investment, and hope that there will be much more in the years to come.

A future Conservative Government in Britain will do all that it can to promote the further growth of the two-way flow of investment and of the partnerships that are developing. It would be our intention to work with business, and with the increasingly-important educational sector, to make it easier for companies and institutions, in both countries, to create new partnerships that would directly benefit both sides. To achieve that, of course, we fully recognise that we will need to listen: we will not have all of the answers, and, in any case, it is our belief that it is the private sector itself that best understands what is required to make it possible to do carry out its business in the most successful manner. We believe that the Government of Abu Dhabi has a similar view.

One can expect, therefore, that a future Conservative Government will adopt the role of being a facilitator, rather than a direct initiator, of the new partnerships that lie ahead. We will seek to open doors, where appropriate, and, as part of this process, will endeavour to promote as much discussion and dialogue as possible between Government Ministers and officials at all levels, to create the depth and breadth of understanding on both sides that will make things easier for the business community. Then we will encourage them to get on with the job.

Underpinning all of that, though, will be a full commitment, at Government level, to continuing to build upon the existing relationship, and to do so in such a way that the deep and abiding partnership between our two countries is not only reinforced, but becomes a fundamental aspect of the way in which Britain deals with the UAE, and with the wider Middle East as a whole.

The philosophy of a future British Conservative Government and of the Governments of Abu Dhabi and the broader United Arab Emirates will not, of course, be identical, but we believe that there is much that we share and have in common, in business and, indeed, in much else.

Business and businessmen in Abu Dhabi, whether British or Emirati, can be confident that if there is a Conservative Government in Britain after the next General Election, that Government will exert such efforts as it can, in a wide variety of fields, to ensure that our long standing relationship built on understanding and mutual respect will continue to flourish.