UK business secretary to visit Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE

LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) – British business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch will visit Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates this week as part of her efforts to seal a trade deal with the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations.

Trade talks between the UK and the Gulf Cooperation Council (which also includes Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman) began last year and have gone through three rounds so far.

“The GCC is a huge opportunity for UK companies, whether it’s selling great UK food and drink products into new markets, or reaching new consumers for our thriving digital trade and renewable energy industries,” Badenoch said ahead of the visit.

Badenoch will speak at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday as part of a five-day visit during which she will also meet GCC Secretary-General Jasem al-Budaiwi and ministers from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The UK exported £36bn ($45bn) of services and goods to the GCC (which also includes Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman) last year, with trade between the UK and the GCC countries totaling £61.3bn, making the The group became the UK’s seventh-largest trading partner, according to government figures.

Supporters of Britain’s 2016 decision to leave the European Union cite the ability to independently strike trade deals as a major benefit of Brexit.

A new trade deal between Britain, Australia and New Zealand will come into force next month, which the government says will boost the economy by £800m a year.

However, most economists predict that disruptions to greater trade flows between the UK and the EU will greatly outweigh the benefits of closer partnerships with geographically more distant trading partners.

The UK exported £340bn of goods and services to the EU last year, accounting for 42% of total exports.

Since 2019, the last year the UK was in the EU single market, goods exports to the EU have fallen by around 7% when adjusted for inflation, while those to the rest of the world have fallen by around 10%. ($1 = 0.7923 pounds) (Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by Hugh Lawson)