UAE - UK Business Council’s 20th Plenary Summit

October 18, 2022, Rosewood Hotel Abu Dhabi

The UAE-UK Business Council held its Annual Plenary Meeting in Abu Dhabi on 18 October, Co-Chaired by HE Ahmed Al Sayegh and Lord Udny-Lister.

 The event commemorated the first anniversary of the signing of the UAE-UK Partnership for the Future and the Sovereign Investment Partnership, reviewing progress made so far and prospects for further bilateral engagement and investment over the year ahead.

We were delighted to have Cherie Blair, CBE, KC as our keynote speaker at the event to announce a new partnership between the Business Council and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women.  We will support the Foundation’s work in encouraging UAE-Based business leaders to mentor women entrepreneurs in least developed countries. Over 100 business leaders in the UAE have already signed up as mentors for this programme, and it is delivering great results in countries such as Rwanda and South Africa.

We announced two new projects at the Plenary - the first aimed at fostering collaboration between the two countries in cancer screening, diagnostics, treatment and care; and the second on opportunities for UK-UAE collaboration on the decarbonization of the built environment. You can hear more about this second project at our special session at the Big 5 Global Leaders Summit in Dubai on December 5th (we will be posting more news on this shortly).

 The importance of sustaining momentum on decarbonisation was a key focus of the Meeting, and HE Majid Al Suwaidi, Director General of the COP28 UAE Presidency, briefed Council Members on the priority themes of COP 28, taking place in Dubai in November 2023. In support of this, the Business Council’s Energy Transition White Paper was launched at the event – this Paper sets out proposals for bilateral cooperation on energy transition and will be submitted to both Governments for consideration later this year. We will be publishing the White Paper on our website shortly.

 As it enters 2023, the Business Council will strengthen its mandate as a policy and advocacy organization for the business communities in both countries, by establishing a permanent presence in the UAE and by undertaking more campaign-style projects. We will be making more announcements on this next month!

 Please take a look at our Gallery for some photos of the Plenary Meeting.