UAE investment funds drawn to the UK

Fresh ventures by UAE investors into the United Kingdom are likely to be announced as early as next month, according to the UK Trade and Industry (UKTI), a government agency.

“There are a number of investments from UAE companies that are expected to arrive within the next six to nine months,” said Michael Boyd, UKTI’s managing director for strategic investments.

“There’ll be some infrastructure investment and some life sciences investment. There will be some investment outside of London as well as inside London,” he said. “I think we’ll see announcements around March.”

Mr Boyd declined to comment on the identity of the investors or the value of the investments.

The UK government has recently stepped up its efforts to attract investment from the Arabian Gulf states.

Vince Cable, the UK secretary of state for business innovation and skills, last month launched the UKTI Gulf Inward Investment team in Dubai as a means of attracting more investment to Britain from the UAE and other GCC countries.

“We as a nation are open for business, and we want overseas investment,” said Mr Boyd.

“We don’t discriminate in anyway between local investment and overseas investment. And so we want to attract overseas investors to come and invest in the UK.”

The UK government is targeting £1.5 trillion (Dh8.98tn) of foreign direct investment by 2020, up from the current level of nearly £600 billion, he said.

The UAE and British governments have vowed to try to raise bilateral trade to £12bn by next year.

Among the highest-profile UAE investments in the UK is DP World’s £1.5bn London Gateway deep-sea port, which opened in November.

Other flagship UAE investments in the UK include Masdar’s 20 per cent stake in the London Array, the world’s largest offshore wind farm, and the acquisition of London’s ExCeL conference and exhibition centre in 2008 by Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

jeverington@thenational.ae