It has certainly been a busy period
here at the Embassy and in Abu
Dhabi generally. The last year ended
with a visit from the Prime Minister,
Tony Blair, closely followed by the high
profile visit of the Prince of Wales and
the Duchess of Cornwall, and then
more recently by the visit of the Duke
of York. In the middle of this period, we
were also visited by the Lord Mayor
of London and a very senior business
delegation from the City of London.
We were also delighted to receive the
Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett,
who visited Abu Dhabi in mid-March
while other Ministers have also paid
visits. All in all, a pretty hectic, but
valuable, schedule of visits.
The Lord Mayor's programme was
very full and he was received warmly
on all of his calls. As well as speaking
to the BBG lunch group on 12 February,
the Lord Mayor and the delegation
made calls on the Central Bank, the
Department of Planning and Economy,
the Abu Dhabi Chamber, ADIA,
Mubadala and H.E. Sheikha Lubna al-
Qasimi, the Minister of Economy.
One of the Lord Mayor's themes
was 'London, City of Learning.' He
addressed an Education, Training and
Qualifications (ETQ) seminar hosted by
the British Council on this theme and
we hope that this will stimulate further
partnerships between Abu Dhabi and
the United Kingdom. Both the Prince
of Wales and the Duke of York also
had highly successful visits, the Duke
concentrating mainly on his role as the
UK's special representative for Trade
and Industry. It was an ideal time to
support our efforts in Abu Dhabi. I
know he particularly enjoyed his lunch
with the BBG.
For the immediate future we do
hope to have at least one other senior
visitor to Abu Dhabi, to continue the
momentum and to demonstrate Britain's
commitment both to Abu Dhabi and to
the UAE generally.
The theme for this issue of "Capital
Letter" is Education and Tourism
and there is plenty on these themes
elsewhere in the magazine. From
our point of view in the Embassy we
are pleased to see the significant
involvement of Nordanglia, CFBT
and Penta in the education sector
in Abu Dhabi. All have forged good
partnerships here and play a full part in
this very important sector. Of course,
we also have many British teachers in
Abu Dhabi and the British School Al
Khubeirat provides an excellent facility
from Reception classes through to
GCSE levels. There are many British
training providers across the sectors
and we are always happy to encourage
more. We hold regular meetings at the
Embassy with key stakeholders in the
sector.
An interesting set of statistics has
recently emerged from the Department
of Trade and Industry, showing that
British exports to the UAE have fallen
for the first time in years, down by
nearly 40 per cent. The reasons are
not clear but are probably related to
the recent agreements between the UK
and the UAE to combat fraudulent VAT
activity, itself a very good reflection of
our relations with Abu Dhabi. I hope to
be able to provide more detail in the
next issue.
However, even more interestingly,
exports to Abu Dhabi rose in 2006 by
some 8 per cent over the 2005 figure.
This is an encouraging statistic and I
think we can all take some satisfaction
from that.
We at the Embassy value our
relationship with the British Business
Group. Indeed I am myself privileged
to sit on the committee. We are always
happy to talk to members about
developments in Abu Dhabi and,
indeed, to learn from members! Please
feel free to drop in and see us – newer
members, in particular, may find this to
be of use.
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