London Mayor Boris Johnson (pictured) will be in Doha this week leading a trade mission that seeks to attract major investment to London and build stronger ties with Qatar and the high growth GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council) region.
Johnson arrived in the UAE yesterday and will visit Abu Dhabi and Dubai before reaching Doha. During the five-day trip, the Mayor has a series of high-level meetings with political, state and business leaders, including senior members of the royal families in the region, sovereign wealth funds and investment authorities.
Johnson will break off from his trip to return to London to oversee the security and transport arrangements surrounding Margaret Thatcher’s funeral, which he will attend in his capacity as Mayor. He will return to the GCC region on Thursday to meet up with his business delegation and complete the Qatari leg of the trade mission, where he will also visit Katara Cultural Village in support of the Qatar-UK Year of Culture.
Collectively, the GCC countries represent huge inward investment and bilateral trade opportunities for London: it is already the UK’s seventh largest export market.
The scale of domestic growth plans by the Gulf countries and planned investment into the UK as part of economic diversification opens up huge commercial opportunities for London.
For example, Qatar’s cumulative investment in the UK is £20bn and the hope is that by further strengthening the relationship they will add to their investment in the capital city.
While in the GCC region, the mayor will also address key business audiences including the Abu Dhabi British Business Group focusing on sustainable urban development and the Qatar British Business Forum.
He will meet major investors, many of whom already have an interest in London, including Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, chairman of DP World, which owns the massive London Gateway port and business park development currently under construction; Khaled al-Sayed, acting CEO of Qatari Diar, investors in London’s Olympic Village. While in Qatar, he will also meet Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, Secretary General of Qatar Olympic Committee.
In Abu Dhabi, the mayor will meet Dr Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, CEO of Masdar and the UAE Minister of State. He will tour the Masdar City and Institute, the emerging cleantech cluster and university focused on developing alternative energy and sustainability for the region.
During the Dubai leg of the trip, the Mayor’s team will forge links between Dubai Internet City - the largest ICT business park in the Middle East – and London’s Tech City supported by Joanna Shields, the CEO of Tech City (and British Business Ambassador for the Digital Industries).
Dubai Internet City houses tech giants such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Linkedin, Yahoo and Cisco.
Johnson will be joined by a delegation of senior business leaders representing key sectors in London’s economy including financial services, sport, architecture, infrastructure, technology and creative industries.
He will also be accompanied by Sir Edward Lister, deputy mayor (planning) and Dr Gerard Lyons, chief economic adviser.
Johnson said, ‘I want London to continue to be the number one city of choice for investors from this dynamic region. With strong historic ties in place, we already have fruitful trading partnerships between the Gulf and this city notably in finance, infrastructure, tourism, education and culture. These collaborations have resulted in several recent mega projects to benefit London’s economy and jobs market such as the stupendous Shard and the London Gateway, set to be the UK’s first deep sea container port.
“The Gulf’s economy continues to grow fast and we cannot be complacent in what is now a fiercely competitive global economy. I will be promoting the huge opportunities for inward investment into London, championing the mammoth potential for future trade and seeking to share expertise in areas of mutual interest.”
