United Kingdom-United Arab Emirates All-Party Parliamentary Group

The United Kingdom-United Arab Emirates All-Party Parliamentary Group (UKUAEAPPG) was established with a view 'to promote good relations between the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates'. With every parliament, the group is dissolved and then re-established by parliamentarians concerned with the relationship between the United Arab Emirates and Britain.

Background

Given the importance of the United Arab Emirates as a trading partner and geopolitical strategic ally, the UKUAEAPPG works very closely with the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates on maintaining and improving relations between Britain and the region.

Speaking on the res-establishment of the group and appointment of the new officers in 2010, Mohammed Al Otaiba, Charge d'Affaires at the UAE Embassy in London, said the Embassy:

'welcomes the re-establishment of this valuable group, whose purpose is to promote relations between our two countries. Many members of both Houses of Parliament are interested in the UAE' and 'will endeavour to keep the Group informed about the latest developments in the UAE, and thereby widen an appreciation of our country among policy-makers in Britain.'

Parliamentary delegation to the UAE

In April of 2012, a British parliamentary delegation visited the United Arab Emirates, staying for a period of 5 days. The delegation landed in Abu-Dhabi on 1 April 2015. The delegation, comprised of 9 members of the House of Commons and 1 member of the House of Lords, will split its time equally between Abu-Dhabi and Dubai, meeting with senior delegates from both governmental agencies and private sector companies.

Former leader of the Conservative Party and chairman of the group at this time, Lord Michael Howard of Lympne said of the delegation:

'The UAE is a long-standing ally located in a strategically important part of the world, and its relations with Britain have helped make the world a better and safer place - through defence cooperation against piracy off the Horn of Africa, delivering development assistance to Afghanistan, and helping the Libyan people rebuild their country after the fall of Colonel Gaddafi. Our two countries also have a very important trade relationship, which it is hoped will be worth ?12 billion by 2015. There are over 100,000 British people living in the UAE, over a million British people visit here every year, and around 50,000 Emiratis visit Britain every year. My colleagues and I are here to learn how we can help build our country's relations further.'

Secretariat

Quiller Consultants, a London-based private consultancy, is employed by the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates to act as the UKUAEAPPG's secretariat.

People

Officers, September 2015

• Chair: Sir Alan Duncan - Conservative Party
• Vice Chair - Kevan Jones - Labour
• Vice-Chair: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh - Scottish National Party
• Secretary: Baroness Pola Uddin - Non-affiliated

Officers, March 2015

• Chair: Alistair Burt - Conservative Party
• Vice-Chair: Kevan Jones - Labour
• Vice-Chair: Lord Timothy Clement-Jones - Liberal Democrats
• Treasurer: Kwasi Kwarteng - Conservative Party
• Secretary: Mark Tami - Labour

Members, March 2015

• Conservative Party - Lord Michael Howard of Lympne | David Ruffley | Adam Holloway | Robert Jenrick | Baroness Patricia Morris of Bolton | Nick de Bois
• Liberal Democrats - Sir Menzies Campbell | Lord Edward Razzall
• Labour - Lord Donald Anderson of Swansea | Lord Greville Janner of Braunstone | John Spellar | George Howarth | Clive Betts | David Crausby | Pamela Nash
• Non-Affiliated: Lord Nazir Ahmed

Contact

Sir Alan Duncan MP is the registered contact.

Address: House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

Telephone: 020 7219 5204

Email: alan.duncan.mp@parliament.uk