Policymakers outline vision for next chapter of UAE-UK relations

High-level UAE and UK policymakers and leading business leaders outlined a decisive vision for the next chapter of the two countries’ economic partnership at a Parliamentary Reception in the House of Lords, emphasising the durability of investor confidence through recent regional disruption and calling for stronger collaboration across artificial intelligence, energy, life sciences, and skills.

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Hosted by the UAE-UK Business Council, the event gathered more than 160 parliamentarians, diplomats, and senior business leaders from both countries. Notable attendees included Lord Stockwood, UK Minister of State for Investment, Mansoor Abulhoul, UAE Ambassador to the UK, Badr Jafar, Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Business and Philanthropy, Sir Oliver Dowden, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group, Lord Udny-Lister, Co-Chair of the UAE-UK Business Council, Simon Penney, Deputy CEO of Innovo, and Bradley Jones, Executive Director of the Joint Secretariat of the UAE-UK Business Council.

Jafar affirmed that global investor confidence in the UAE has been tested and has held strong.

"The UAE and the UK are two economies that believe in the same things: open markets, rules-based trade, and innovation-led growth. In a world drifting toward fragmentation, that alignment is valuable. Our Sovereign Investment Partnership has committed nearly three times its original target in under four years. That is not an accident; it is the product of deep institutional trust built deliberately over many years. The next chapter will not be defined by scale alone, but by focus - co-investment in the sectors that will shape the next decade, from Al and clean energy to life sciences and skills."