UK trade with GCC lagging behind, despite growth

The UAE is one of UK’s biggest regional business partners, with bilateral trade hitting £10.6 billion in 2012, and targeted to grow to £12bn by next year.

Afnan Al Shuaiby, the head of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce, left, and Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, the chairwoman of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce during the Arab-British Economic Show more

LONDON // Trade between the Middle East and United Kingdom is half of what it should be, an Arab League official says, amid claims British firms are too hesitant in doing business with the region.

Goods worth £36.9 billion (Dh218.07bn) were exchanged between Britain and the Arab states last year, more than 28 per cent increase on 2012, according to UK government figures.

The UAE is one of UK’s biggest regional business partners, with bilateral trade hitting £10.6bn in 2012, and targeted to grow to £12bn by next year.

Yet despite such growth Britain is still falling behind in trade with the region, the Arab-British Economic Forum heard last week.

Thamer Al Anni of the Arab League told the high-profile London gathering that trade was “extremely low” compared to that with other countries.

“Despite the old historical ties and short distance between the Arab world and the United Kingdom, the size of trade exchanged was rather small in 2013,” said Mr Al Anni, who specialises in economic relations.

He cited Arab trade with countries such as China, which was worth $224bn in 2012, and the United States, where exports to the Middle East and North Africa were worth $70.85bn, with billions more in imports.

Mr Al Anni said trade between the UK and Arab world had the potential to be worth more than $100bn now, and to reach $120bn by 2020 – double last year’s figure.

Afnan Al Shuaiby, the head of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), which organised the London forum, said the trade figures were not as high as she would like to see.

The ABCC’s role is to boost trade between the UK and Arab world. Ms Al Shuaiby said British firms were missing out because they were too hesitant to enter the region.

"The British business approach towards the Arab world is a little bit slow. They take more than enough time to decide if they want to go in, or if they don't. And by that time, other countries have gone in, signed the contract," she told The National.

“With the relationship the Arab world has with the United Kingdom, we would like to see them being number one, rather than others taking their place.”

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, the chairwoman of the ABCC, said it was unfair to call the level of trade between the UK and the Arab world “low”.

“A whole range of different organisations … are interested in investments in the Middle East, and also trading with the Middle East,” she said. “That’s not to say that I don’t think there is a lot of work to do.”

Baroness Symons said British companies were still investing despite the continuing turmoil in the Arab world. But she acknowledged that there was concern among some UK firms about the current unrest in countries such as Iraq and Syria.

“ISIS is a worry – more than a worry, a real issue for a lot of people … It affects all parts of the community. It is part of what we are all having to deal with, those of us who work with the Middle East,” she said.

But the issue of Palestine and the UK government’s support of Israel is the “main obstacle” in building better trade ties between Britain and the Arab world, said Mr Al Anni. He urged the formation of a government-level forum to promote Arab-British trade.

The Arab League’s plan to create a customs union by next year and Arab common market by 2020 would also make access to the market easier, Mr Al Anni added. The plan for the common market is on track for 2020, although it might launch with fewer countries initially, the official said.

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