Abu Dhabi to invest billions in British business
- 4 years ago
Abu Dhabi will reportedly invest billions of pounds in British health, tech, green energy and infrastructure as part of a post-Brexit deal.
Mubadala, one of the UAE's most active funds, will pay £800m into life sciences over five years, the Financial Times reported.
It is thought investments in the other three sectors will be of a similar scale.
The exact size of the total investment is not yet clear, the newspaper said.
However, the total deal is expected to be worth up to £5bn, it suggested.
UK investment minister Lord Gerry Grimstone said he was "expecting equal or better opportunities to be found in those sectors".
"We think the future opportunities are very, very sizeable," he added.
The British government will also invest £200m in life sciences alongside the UAE commitment.
Lord Grimstone also told the newspaper he hoped for investments in clean energy that would be spread across Britain, including to industrial areas outside of London.
Abu Dhabi is trying to diversify its economy away from oil and gas.
The report follows recent news that the UK is creating four regional trade and investment hubs to boost economic growth across the UK, as well as dropping tariffs on some US goods, put in place over a related dispute about US subsidies to Boeing.
Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss said on Monday that the hubs would be located in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast and Darlington.
The government says the new hubs will provide support and advice to help regional businesses to access major trade markets and boost exports, as part its efforts to boost pandemic recovery. Some experts, however, said that the choice of location was misguided.
At the chancellor's recent Budget, emphasis was also placed on investment in the life sciences, clean energy and technology industries.
Mr Sunak announced the creation of a national infrastructure bank that would mainly invest in green projects ahead of the COP26 climate change summit in the UK later in November.
Source: BBC
Comments