The UAE-UK Relationship

Since its foundation in 1971, the United Kingdom has been a trusted friend of the United Arab Emirates. In recent years, the UAE has aimed to be a source of stability, economic growth and innovation in the region, and the UK has been a valued partner in the pursuit of this goal.

Today there is a thriving bilateral relationship with the United Kingdom covering economic, strategic, and cultural interests. Trade takes place between the two countries across a variety of industries including energy, financial and professional services, education, healthcare, and infrastructure, as well as defence and aerospace.

In addition to trade links, a longstanding strategic partnership exists between the UAE and UK. The Armed Forces of the UAE and the UK have strong ties, working in partnership to preserve security and stability in the Arabian Gulf. In 1996, the UK and UAE signed a Defence Cooperation Accord, which sets out arrangements for security cooperation between the two countries.

During a visit to the UK in 2021, H.H. Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and then Prime Minister Boris Johnson met to establish an ambitious new partnership. The meeting concluded in: 

• An agreement to establish the Partnership for the Future expanding the breadth of the bilateral relationship.
• The signing of a MoU on Climate Change and Environmental Co-operation that will support collaboration on climate action, nature-based solutions and fulfilling the Paris Agreement. 
• Recognition of the UAE elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2022-23. 
• The announcement of the Education for the Future initiative which involved a series of thought leadership seminars in late 2021. 
• A shared commitment to deliver at least 12 years of education to girls in both countries. 

UAE-UK Economic Relationship

The UAE is the UK’s third largest trading partner outside Europe, behind only China (including Hong Kong) and the USA. This also makes the UAE the UK’s largest trading partner in the Middle East. There are over 5,000 UK businesses operate in the Emirates. Many British citizens live and work in the UAE, and large numbers of Emiratis visit the UK every year.

Figures released by the UK's Office for National Statistics in 2021 show that bilateral trade between the UAE and UK reached £10.27 billion (AED 55bn) in Q1 2021. This means the UAE is the UK’s 25^th largest trading partner globally, and its largest trading partner in the Gulf region.

UAE-UK Security Relationship

The UK and UAE have strong ties on defence and security. In addition to the 1996 Defence Cooperation Accord, in 2009 the UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UAE Armed Forces which covers arrangements for UK forces to utilise air bases in the UAE.

A Police Attaché operates from the UAE Embassy in London. The Police Attaché represents the UAE Ministry of Interior in the UK and works closely with the British police, immigration, and civilian security services. Police forces in both countries value the importance of sharing information and experience and they work together to develop technical cooperation and specialized projects in training undergraduate and postgraduates UAE police officers

More widely, the UAE's contribution to international security and counterterrorism includes:

• Intelligence cooperation with UK government agencies
• Agreements with the UK on fighting money-laundering and extradition
• Endorsement of the Proliferation Security Initiative

UAE-UK Cultural Relationship

Deep social and cultural ties exist between the UK and UAE. Recently, the UAE has made a number of investments to boost technology and innovation. The UAE is a significant funder of UK research and development projects – particularly around environmental technologies and clean energy – while several UK universities have a presence in the UAE.

From October 2021 – March 2022, Dubai will host Expo 2020 and looks forward to welcoming UK exhibitors. The UK has been a keen supporter of the project and several UK businesses have contributed to the construction and development of the event.

Economy and Trade Relations
 
The UAE and UK are committed partners on all fronts, with a long-standing friendship and shared history linking our countries and peoples. Guided by an ongoing commitment to developing a UK-UAE partnership for the future, economic exchange represents an important area through which our two countries are expanding our relations to new horizons.
 
The UAE-UK trade relationship is experiencing continuous development in various fields, including investment, trade, health, energy, education, space, tourism, food security, and technology. Through bilateral platforms such as the UK-UAE Business Council, the Joint Taskforce, and the Joint Economic Committee, the UAE and UK identify and leverage joint opportunities for economic growth.
 
Over 5,000 UK businesses operate in the UAE. In 2019, new rules were introduced allowing 100 percent foreign ownership in several sectors including technology, outer space, renewable energy, and artificial intelligence. The UK is the UAE’s largest source of Foreign Direct Investment, meaning this new regulation will benefit both Britain and the UAE.
 
Recent trade and investment highlights include:

Total trade between the UK and GCC was worth £33.51 billion in 2021.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the UAE reached £17.12 billion in 2021. 

The ongoing GCC-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations launched on 22 June 2022, which are expected to further strengthen bilateral relations and the strategic economic relationship between the UK and GCC. 

UAE-UK partnership meetings were established in September 2021 to tackle illicit financial flows.

A partnership between DP World UAE and British International Investment was announced as part of the UK's new 2022 aid strategy. 

Mubadala invested AED2.5 billion (£570,250) in CityFibre to support UK infrastructure, whereby Mubadala and the UK’s Department for International Trade jointly agreed to invest £1bn in UK life sciences. This agreement has now been expanded to a 5 year £10 billion investment partnership as part of an ambitious new ‘Partnership for the Future’ agreed between the two countries. 

A donation by HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak helped fund the construction of the Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children at London’s Great Ormond Street hospital. (2019)
 
DIA purchased a 15% stake in Gatwick Airport. (2010)
 

Culture, Community and the Arts

British companies and organisations have been strong supporters of the work of the Emirates Foundation established in 2005 to support important long-term initiatives across the UAE in the areas of education, society and culture, research and development, social development, and the environment.

Over the years UK donors and partners of the Emirates foundation have included BP, Shell, the British Council, Carillion, International Power, Rolls Royce and the British Embassy.

The British Council's projects include the Cultural Excellence Fellowship in partnership with Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation (ADMAF) which aims to bring together the best emerging talent of the Emirati cultural and creative industries, with established cultural leaders from the UK, the UAE and beyond to make a contribution to the ever-evolving UAE cultural sector. Today ADMAF has a reach of 40,000 across the UAE with ground-breaking initiatives. 

The Emirates Foundation and the UK's Booker Prize Foundation launched the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in April 2007. The prize, specifically for prose literature, aims to reward excellence in contemporary Arabic creative writing, to encourage wider readership of quality Arabic literature in the region and internationally, and to encourage translation and publication of Arabic language literature into other major languages.

Furthermore, in June 2009, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award announced a strategic partnership with the Middle East Centre at the University of Oxford. The Sheikh Zayed Book Award, established under the patronage of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, is presented every year to outstanding Arab writers, intellectuals, publishers as well as young talent whose writings and translations of humanities have scholarly and objectively enriched Arab cultural, literary and social life.

Dubai's Culture and Arts Authority partnered with National Portrait Gallery in London, with the support of the British Council to present 'Photographs in Dialogue' at Etihad Museum. The exhibition ran from the 9th-25th September featuring key moments in history that chronicle the diplomatic relations between the UK and the UAE in the 1960s, leading up to the UAE's union in 1971. 

A number of other UK universities have a presence in the UAE. For example, Bolton University and Stirling University have campuses in Ras Al-Khaimah. Herriot-Watt University, Strathclyde University, London Business School, British University, Cass Business School, and Middlesex University have outlets in Dubai.