United Kingdom-United Arab Emirates All-Party Parliamentary Group
The United Kingdom-United Arab Emirates All-Party Parliamentary Group (UKUAEAPPG) was established 'to promote good relations between the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates'. [1]
With every parliament, the group is dissolved and then re-established by interested parliamentarians.
Contents
Background
The UKUAEAPPG 'works very closely' with the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates on maintaining and improving relations between Britain and the region, which is considered an 'important' trading partner and 'geopolitical strategic ally'.
Speaking on the re-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.' [2]
Parliamentary delegation to the UAE
In April 2012, a British parliamentary delegation visited the UAE, staying for five days. It included nine members of the House of Commons and one member of the House of Lords. The trip was split equally between Abu-Dhabi and Dubai, with meetings ofsenior delegates from both governmental agencies and private sector companies.
Former leader of the Conservative Party and chairman of the APPG at this time, Lord Michael Howard of Lympne said:
- '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.' [3]
Secretariat
Quiller Consultants, a London-based private consultancy, was previously employed by the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates to act as the UKUAEAPPG's secretariat until around April/May 2015. [4]
It ceased to appear on the APPG register from 30 July 2015. Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
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
Website
The UKUAEAPPG does not have a website.
Notes
- ↑ Register of APPGs 29 September 2015, Parliament website, accessed 19 October 2015
- ↑ UAE APPG Re-established, uaeinteract.com, accessed 19 October 2015
- ↑ British mp's make 5 day visit to UAEemirates247.com, 30 March 2012, accessed 19 October 2015
- ↑ Register of 30 March 2015, www.parliament.uk, accessed 19 October 2015
