The second meeting of the UK-UAE Joint Economic Council discussed proposals to set up joint working teams on energy, education, health, infrastructure, finance and business, small and medium size enterprises and defense.

The discussions took place in London at the meeting which was presided over by Nasser bin Ahmed Al Suwaidi, head of the Economic Development Department in Abu Dhabi. Lord Marland, Chair of the UK Business Ambassadors’ Network and UK Minister at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, Samir Brikho, the chief executive of UK- based engineering, project management and consultancy company AMEC and co-chair of the Council, Ambassador of the UAE to the UK Abdul Rehman Al Mutaiwei, senior offials and businessmen.

The business and finance joint working team will benefit from Abu Dhabi’s plan to build a financial center on Al Mariah island, according to Al Suwaidi.

The UAE, he stressed, is interested in furthering economic relations with the UK. The Council will boost contacts between the governments of the two countries as part of efforts to remove barriers to smooth flow of UAE’s and UK’s investments and revive the role of private sectors.

For his part, Lord Marland noted that the political and economic relations with the UAE have never been stronger as a result of the growing trade and investment relations. Lord Marland also hailed the UAE’s long-term strategies including UAE Vision 2021 and Abu Dhabi’s Vision 2030 which reflect the farsightedness of the leadership of the UAE.

Participants proposed that a six-month phase1 for the Joint Working Team on Education will start next September with naming six members from each country while phase2 will focus on training students.