The UK aims to deepen its trade and investment partnership with the UAE and is seeking more dual listings on the London Stock Exchange to further strengthen ties in the financial sector, according to the UK's newly appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury.
The UAE is a “hugely important economy for us ... [the two countries have a] historically close relationship”, Emma Reynolds told The National in an interview. “We signed an MoU [memorandum of understanding] together on financial services in October 2023. So I've been discussing where we can have concrete follow-up steps, whether it's progress on dual listings that we'd like to see, or on further exchanging ideas around open banking and FinTech and, indeed, sustainable finance.”
Ms Reynolds was in the UAE to attend the Investopia conference in Abu Dhabi last week and met top officials, including ministers, to strengthen ties between the two countries. It was her first overseas trip after being appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury in January.
Dual listings on the UAE stock markets and the London Stock Exchange have happened in the past, and “we would like it to happen more in future”, she said.
There has been a listings boom in the UAE in the past few years as the Arab world’s second-largest economy continues to grow amid diversification efforts.
Last year, companies including Talabat Holding, Lulu Group, ADNH Catering, a unit of Abu Dhabi National Hotels, NMDC Energy, a unit of Abu Dhabi contractor National Marine Dredging Company, and Alef Education, among others, listed their stocks on the UAE stock markets. Technology company Alpha Data raised Dh600 million from its initial public offering on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange last month.
“We are very confident that the UK has a leading international financial centre, second only to New York, that we continue to deepen the liquidity of our capital markets. Our stock exchange in London last year raised more capital than the next top three European exchanges put together," Ms Reynolds said.
"So we're very focused on ensuring that the UK goes from strength to strength, and we'll do that within the international framework … and we will continue to work with international partners here in the Gulf and elsewhere to ensure that we have the best global economic conditions for that.”
Last year, the Abu Dhabi investment and holding company ADQ issued its inaugural $2.5 billion bond, which has a primary listing on the LSE and a secondary listing on the ADX. The dual-tranche bond included five and 10-year tenors and was oversubscribed more than 4.4 times.
The trade and investment ties between the two countries are growing, with majority of the UK firms in the region choosing the UAE to set up their headquarters and operate in the wider region, Ms Reynolds said.
“We already have fantastic investments from this country in our clean energy, in tech, in football as well. So really, already, we have that close partnership and lots of UK firms are based here, which we think is a win-win situation.”
Some of the UAE's investments in the UK include ports operator DP World’s £2.7 billion ($3.39 billion) investment in Southampton Port, London Gateway and P&O Ferries as well as Abu Dhabi clean energy company Masdar’s £4 billion investment in UK renewable energy.
In 2021, the UAE also made a commitment to invest £10 billion in the UK as part of a sovereign investment partnership agreement between Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company and the UK’s Office for Investment. The agreement focused on investment in the UK’s priority sectors, including energy transition, infrastructure and technology, over a period of five years, Mubadala said at the time.
“The trade between our two countries has always been very healthy and we would like to develop that further,” Ms Reynolds added.
Total bilateral trade in goods and services between the UAE and the UK exceeded £25 billion in 2024. Over 5,000 UK-registered firms operate in the UAE, according to UK government data.
“There is already a GCC-FTA [free trade agreement] that's in development. I think there is room for more, a more detailed partnership with the UAE on the GCC-FTA,” Ms Reynolds said. She added that the UK is keen to finalise the deal but “it has to be the right deal for both sides”.
