Amir's UK visit celebrates wonderful relations between the countries: London Lord Mayor

Lord Mayor of the City of London Alastair King emphasised that the state visit of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to the United Kingdom is a celebration of the wonderful relations between Qatar and Britain in the areas of trade, finance, cultural activities and more.In his remarks to Qatar News Agency (QNA), the Lord Mayor of the City of London said that the UK is very pleased to welcome His Highness the Amir to London, along waited visit that comes at a historic moment, as they prepare to announce the UK-GCC Free Trade Agreement, which they hope will be signed soon. He noted that the agreement will create huge opportunities for both Qatari and British companies.King indicated that the United Kingdom views Qatar as a very important investment partner and is grateful for the confidence shown in Qatars investments in many of its institutions and businesses. He added that these investments are not limited to London only, but extend to several parts of the United Kingdom, as investment opportunities also exist in the southeast of England.He added that he is working to encourage companies in the United Kingdom to launch and look for new markets in places like Qatar. He pointed that Britain has a lot of experience in things like sustainable finance and project finance, noting that he is awaiting Qatari investors to enter some of the unusual technological fields that Britain has.He highlighted that Qatar is looking with interest at these areas, in addition to other areas such as the extraordinary scientific development in the life sciences, adding that there is a wonderful flow of investments in both directions between Qatar and the United Kingdom.He added that London and Doha have very close relations, with a number of Qatari institutions and banks and other institutions based in London, doing a lot of business. It is also great to see British banks well represented in Qatar. Qatari money is invested in other British financial institutions, and there are some other financial institutions in Qatar, which attract some British investment.Speaking about British trade with GCC countries, King told QNA that the trade between the two sides is expected to grow by 16 percent to around GBP 57 billion. He noted that there are exceptional opportunities in UK-Qatar relations, and the free trade agreement will allow for a lot of investment flows between the two countries.He pointed out that the GCC countries are the UK's fourth largest trading partner, adding that there are investment opportunities in many different sectors. King said that there is a lot of investment coming from Qatar in terms of green finance, an area where the UK feels it is the market leader, as they have GBP 91 billion of assets under management in green investment funds, and there is Qatari participation in those investment funds, which is very pleasing.He added that they see a huge opportunity to push green investment forward following the signing of the UK-GCC Free Trade Agreement, one example of which is the issuance of green Sukuks on the London Stock Exchange, which he will be discussing with a number of Qatari institutions during his visit to Doha in May 2025.King concluded his remarks to QNA by saying that the meetings with HH the Amir during the visit will create exceptional opportunities to build on commercial relations, and there are several things that they will discuss with His Highness, looking forward to working on how to develop these relations in the field of financial and professional services.