UAE and UK enjoy mutually beneficial opportunity to learn from the past

As the UAE President, Sheikh Khalifa, visits to the United Kingdom, relations between the two countries are flourishing with business and employment opportunities at the heart of it all.

The state visit of the President, Sheikh Khalifa, to the United Kingdom presents an ideal opportunity to reflect on the relationship between the two countries and how each is important to the other on many fronts. None more so than the business and employment opportunities.

The UAE is home to more Britons than any other country in the region. As many as 200,000 of them reside in the UAE. Britons represent the largest western expatriate community in the UAE. The global financial crisis has led to an almost doubling of the number of Britons who moved to the UAE seeking employment and better economic conditions. Private British investments in the UAE have also dramatically increased in recent years, even as the financial crisis continued to affect other parts of the world.

According to the United Kingdom's United Trade and Investment, the UAE is the UK's largest civil export market in the Middle East and North Africa. It is also the UK's 13th-largest export market for goods. With more than £5 billion (Dh28.51bn) of UK exports to the UAE, there are also about 100,000 jobs in the UK that are directly supported by exporting to the UAE. Add to this thousands of indirect jobs as result of tourism and health care, for example, the importance of strong relations to the UK employment is clear.

The UK-UAE Task Force continues to ensure both governments develop and strengthen the relationship. In a letter I received from the UK's foreign minister, Alistair Burt, earlier in the year, he noted that the "UK and the UAE are close and trusted allies" and that the relationship between the two countries is "deep, historical and multifaceted", describing it as "one of the strongest" in the region.

British and Emirati companies have an opportunity to develop the relationship further. The UK offers outstanding value for money for its expertise in a variety of fields. UK talent and capability has long been recognised by the UAE. Even with increasing competition from other countries, Britain has so much added value to offer.

Both countries have much to learn from one another. Britain was able to transform London into the financial capital of the world. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were created in the UK and beyond through economic modernisation that started in the 1980s and continued through the 1990s and beyond. If the UAE opts to emulate some of Britain's experiences, the country stands to reap the benefits without the negative repercussions that accompanied the reforms. This will lead to greater private sector employment and increased productivity.

Britain can also learn from the UAE's successes. Within a few years, the UAE has transformed itself into a global travel hub. It is therefore no surprise that proposals to build a super airport in the Thames Estuary were inspired by the success of Dubai airport.

Technology is another are in which collaboration between both countries will lead to job creation. A recent agreement between the UK's Technology City and Dubai Internet City to collaborate offers an ample opportunity to generate jobs and business in the technology sector in both countries.

The UK and UAE have become models of economic success in many areas. The target set by the UK UAE Joint Economic Committee for trade to increase by 60 per cent by the year 2015 emphasises both governments' intention to strengthen those relations.

It remains the responsibility of private businesses to ensure this is translated into even greater collaboration. Nationals and residents of both countries stand to greatly benefit from this enhanced cooperation.

Ghanem Nuseibeh is the founder of Cornerstone Global Associates and a senior visiting fellow at King's College London