The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman William Russell, addressing a media round-table at Ritz-Carlton hotel, in Doha, yesterday. Pic: Baher Amin / The Peninsula
Doha: Qatar’s investment to the UK has reached over £40bn (QR188.6bn), which is expected to see further growth in the coming years as both the countries are working to expand and deepen relations in new areas, said the visiting Lord Mayor of the City of London William Russell, yesterday.
The UK is also working to play major role in Qatar’s efforts to become a regional hub of green finance and FinTech services.
The bilateral relations between Qatar and the UK are historic and very strong and deep rooted almost all sectors. These relations, especially in the field of trade, investment and other services sector, are set to touch new heights in the run-up to the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup and beyond as both the countries are working closely and aggressively to enhance the level of cooperation.
Russell, a British financier, who is serving as the 692nd Lord Mayor of the City of London for 2019–2020, noted that top government and private officials from both the countries are working to enhance the bilateral cooperation, with special focus in areas such as green finance, FinTech and many other services sector.
“I was here to reiterate the strength of the relationship that we have with Qatar. It was a very successful visit. I was fortunate enough to meet H H the Amir and H E the Prime Minister of Qatar. During the meeting we discussed about sustainability in green finance and how this is a biggest issue having to save the planet going forward,” said Lord Mayor.
He added: “We also discussed about the bilateral relations on trade and investment. We are grateful for the huge amount of investment Qatar has made in the UK, and I was pleased to hear that that investment will continue to grow post-Brexit.”
He further added: “Qatar has invested over £40bn in the UK, and QIA (Qatar Investment Authority) is one of the few sovereign wealth funds that invested over £5bn during the Brexit period of three and a half year after the referendum. We are very grateful for the friendship.”
Commenting about the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference, he said that the UK is going to host the COP 26 (in Glasgow, Scotland from 9 to 19 November 2020) where it want the world, including Qatar, to come together and show leadership for a sustainable world.
“In the UK we have committed to be a zero emissions country by 2050, and today the BP, the British energy major, has also announced to be net zero emissions by 2050,” noted the Lord Mayor.
On Qatar’s preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, he said: “We are excited about it. I have seen some of the works that have already been done. It’s very impressive, and I am sure, it is going to be a fantastic event. Some 30 British companies are looking forward to help during the World Cup.”
Russell, who is also the ambassador for the UK’s financial and professional services that employees about 2.3 million people, reiterated that FinTech and green finance are some of the important areas where Qatar and UK are working to collaborate in a big way for mutual benefits.
London is one of the leading financial centers of the world. The financial services sector contributes nearly 12 percent to the country’s GDP. However, there are some apprehensions among some analysts about the performance of the sector post-Brexit era, which he refuted.
Responding about the possible impact of the Brexit, he said: “We are going to sign free-trade agreements with other countries. As far as the financial services sector is concern, we have always been in the forefront.
We have the ecosystem such as the rule of law, language, time zone, and more financial institutions than any other cities in the world. We will still be at the centre of financial services within Europe.
“There are negotiations going on with the EU, and I am confident that we will come to an agreement. However, we also recognise that it’s going to be a challenge but we have the ecosystem and infrastructure to maintain our status as one of the top financial centres in the world.”
During the Brexit period the UK lost some 2,000 jobs but it gained in the FinTech which employees over 76,500 people. And now the UK is the green finance centre of the world.
He also said that the Brexit has provided clarity to investors, and the British pound is still at the level where it was three and a-half years ago, so it a good time to invest in the UK. And he pointed out that due to that clarity, the demand in real estate sector has also picked up momentum.
The bilateral trade in goods and services between the UK and Qatar was £6.7bn at the end of third quarter of 2019. Total UK exports to Qatar amounted to £4.3bn, while total UK imports from Qatar were £2.4bn at the end of third quarter of last year.
