I’m opening a big event in Manchester today when we welcome over 120 firms from all round the region to hear about the wealth of opportunities for them in the Middle East. We’ve brought 19 of our commercial people from 13 countries and have arranged one to one meetings, a series of interactive panel discussions and drop in sessions on key sectors across the whole of the Middle East including transport, education, health, creative industries, energy and environment.
British goods and services exports to the region totalled some £20bn last year, with bilateral trade in the region of £35bn. These are huge figures and with countries trying hard to diversify their economies away from a reliance on oil and gas, there are massive opportunities in the future for firms able to help their ambitious infrastructure plans, with the education and training of fast growing populations and to satisfy the needs of such a dynamic region.
We’re very well placed in the North West to grow trade with the Middle East. We have some of the most dynamic firms in the country and have grown our exports even during a global downturn. Importantly, Manchester Airport has daily flights to Abu Dhabi with Etihad, daily flights to Doha with Qatar Airways and twice daily flights to Dubai with Emirates. These are some of the fastest growing airlines in the worlds with the youngest fleets and they have fantastic connections right through the Middle East and beyond. Building relationships is vital to business success in the Middle East and, with such an array of connections, there really is no excuse not to explore the opportunities.
Valentine’s day this year coincides with Chinese New Year of the Tiger and I’ll resist trite comments about falling in love with doing business in China (well I suppose I didn’t really) but with the Chinese economy expected to grow by at least 8% next year and with more and more Chinese consumers looking to buy high end products that the UK excels in, I predict that UK exports to China will grow.
Finally, to my Chinese readers may I wish you all Xin Nian Kuai Le (Happy New Year) and Gong Xi Fa Cai (Congratulations and be prosperous).