Capital Letter interviews a young Anglo-Emirati. He urges his generation to see that the promotion of Abu Dhabi requires an acknowledgement that the old ways of doing business may not be the most effective in today’s market and that contributing a great deal should inspire an even greater pace of growth

Khaled Al Ameri is a man going places. Half Emirati, half British: at 26 there is no limit to where he might end up. We meet for lunch and he seems more Emirati than British: he is dressed as immaculately as any other Emirati and draws on the wisdom of the Holy Qur’an to illustrate the points he makes. On paper he is very blue chip: his wife is from a big Emirati family; he was educated at an international school in the capital; he holds a degree from a British university, Northumbria; and now works for one of Abu Dhabi’s most prestigious government bodies, having completed the fiercely demanding graduate training scheme.

We talk about living in Abu Dhabi and his dual nationality. I ask him what it means to him to be an Emirati. “It is about being welcoming, hospitable, a sense of community, family.” But he does not mention the role of trust which I had so often heard when the specification is listed. I suggest the importance of trust for business relationships and his response surprises me. “Not necessarily. Not so much these days. I thought about this a lot when I was in the UK. Of course trust is important, but it is not all about trust now. As we set ourselves higher goals and want to grow Abu Dhabi, we don’t always have time to build the long-standing relationships our fathers built before entering into a contract. In my organisation, we may only have a few weeks to put together a deal. Trust is important but we need to make the right decision first time around - we do not have time to waste on second chances. Commissioning someone to do the job just because we think we trust them is not the same as giving it to the best person.”

Khaled’s mother is Scottish, from Edinburgh. So what does he make of the British here in Abu Dhabi? “The British are not new to this land. You were here when we built this nation so you know it almost as well as we do.” He continues: “You have been with us throughout our development so you know how we are today. You will always be welcome here. Always.” I am very pleased to be putting this on record.

We discuss being half-British, living and working as an Emirati in Abu Dhabi. “On a day to day level, it is a great help for me. Not only growing up with the English language but also being able to understand where people are coming from in meetings. This is particularly true when the British sense of humour doesn’t always translate. Seriously, different cultures have different ways of doing business but more and more they are coming together.” But on a more general level Khaled does not see his half-British nationality as making any difference to him here. “It is not an issue. I do not tell people straight away that I have a British parent and they only usually find out after I have got to know them a bit – perhaps they ask where I learned my English. I do not try to hide it,” he is quick to assure me “it is just not an issue for me.”

Having talked about life over here the conversation turns to when he is back in Britain. Does he feel a foreigner? “No, not at all, but then I was at university in the UK, living in Newcastle-upon-Tyne for three years and my mother’s family are from the UK. That makes me feel a part of the UK. Also, I have spent enough time out of cosmopolitan London to experience the real Britain too and this gives me extra confidence wherever I am in the UK.”

We discuss the Abu Dhabi 2030 Vision: “It is a first, I think, but there is even more to it than the documents. It is about seeing that Abu Dhabi has a place in the world. We already contribute a great deal more to business and economic affairs than people might expect, given our size. We need to understand that. This should not satisfy our passion for growth; it should inspire us to grow faster.”