Global Arab Network | UK: Queen Elizabeth II Pays State Visit to UAE

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UK: Queen Elizabeth II Pays State Visit to UAE

Sunday, 21 November 2010 18:13

UK - HM Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh will pay a state visit to the United Arab Emirates and Oman from 24 to 28 November, reports Global Arab Network.

Between 24 and 25 November they will meet with HH Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE in Abu Dhabi.

HH Shaikh Khalifa visited the UK on 4-6 June 2003. Queen Elizabeth II received Shaikh Khalifa, at her residence at Windsor Castle on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of her coronation.

Shaikh Khalifa was also received by Prince Andrew, Duke of York, at his residence at Sunninghill Park. Prince Andrew hosted a lunch in honour of Sheikh Khalifa and his accompanying delegation.

Shaikh Khalifa hosted a reception at the Lanesborough Hotel on the occasion of his visit to the UK. The reception was attended by Prince Charles the Prince of Wales, Prince Andrew, a number of British officials and businessmen, members of the delegation accompanying Sheikh Khalifa and the ambassadors of Arab countries.

Shaikh Khalifa also held talks with the Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw.

The UK and government of the United Arab Emirates work closely over a number of key strategic areas, which contribute to a productive and solid relationship.
People, according to British Embassy in UAE website.

Over one million British nationals visit the UAE every year (taking advantage of over 140 direct flights every week) and there are more than 100,000 British citizens live and work in the UAE. Emiratis often refer to London as the “eighth Emirate.”

The UK/UAE Task Force was established in July 2010 to further strengthen the ties between the two countries. The UAE is one of the priorities for the Gulf Initiative through which the British Government is committed to elevating its relations with all its partners across the Gulf. Areas of co-operation include defence and security, trade and investment, energy and climate change, international development, culture, education, health, sport and consular relations, according to FCO website.

The UK has strong defence links with the region and provides world-class defence training and education to many to the of the Gulf countries in venerable institutions such as Sandhurst. This has created lasting ties between our armed forces and enhanced the ability of our forces to work together, including on operational deployments in Afghanistan.

Trade and investment is at the heart of our bilateral relationship. The UAE is the UK's 13th largest export market and by far the largest in the Middle East. Trade to the UAE held steady in 2009 following a massive 30% increase in 2008, and is by far our biggest export market in the region. This represents over 40% of all British exports to the GCC, and over 25% of all British exports to the Middle East and North Africa.
Bilateral trade in goods and services currently at £7.5 billion, with both governments pledged to increase this to £12bn by 2015. British companies operating in the UAE include: BP, Shell, IP, Rolls Royce, Halcrow, Hyder, HSBC, Standard Chartered and most of FTSE top 250. 100,000 of the 160,000 British citizens in the GCC are based in the UAE

Dubai is the region's leading business, finance, logistics, and import-export centre. Abu Dhabi is booming with a massive amount of infrastructure projects underway, is the federal capital, and is the world's fourth biggest exporter of oil. Last year UKTI helped 2000 British companies who were interested in doing business in the UAE and the British Business Group has 1500 members.

The British Council has enjoyed an unbroken presence in the UAE for 40 years, with offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. Over 2,800 UAE students studied in the UK at undergraduate/postgraduate level in 2009/10.

The Council also provides quality assurance workshops for the regional higher education community, arranges visits and research links between UK and UAE higher education practitioners, and connects UK and UAE schoolchildren. The British Museum will be a consulting partner to the Sheikh Zayed National Museum, opening 2013.

Queen’s State Visits to Gulf

On her previous State Visits to Oman and UAE the Queen was received by HM Qaboos Bin Al Said, Sultan of Oman and Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, President of United Arab Emirates. The two rulers made return State Visits to the UK in 1982 and 1989 respectively.

The Queen arrived on her first official visit to the UAE on February 24, 1979, as part of a three-week tour of the Gulf. She had flown to Kuwait by Concorde and arrived in the UAE at the "new" Dubai International Airport.

During the visit she met Sheikh Zayed, the founder of the Union, in Abu Dhabi before undertaking a busy schedule in Dubai.

Accompanied by Prince Philip, she was met by Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed, the Ruler of the emirate, with whom she had struck up a friendship during his first visit to London in 1961.

The Queen stayed on the royal yacht Britannia, which was docked in Port Rashid, receiving a stream of dignitaries during her two-day stay. Her official engagements included the opening of the Dubai Municipality building and the Dubai World Trade Centre building, then the tallest structure in the city, and turning on the tap at a Dubal desalination plant.

She unveiled a plaque officially opening Jebel Ali Port, and was taken by car around the port and surrounding industrial area. A visit to an aluminium smelter was also on the itinerary. On the final day of her visit the Queen enjoyed a dhow trip on Dubai Creek accompanied by the Ruler, ending at the British Embassy, where she met local schoolchildren.

Later, 4,500 people gathered to mark her last night in the country before she set sail for Oman

The Queen is head of state of the UK and 15 other Commonwealth realms. The elder daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, she was born in 1926 and became Queen at the age of 25, and has reigned through more than five decades of enormous social change and development.

Global Arab Network

Images courtesy: The thenational of UAE

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