Lord Mayor of London: Qatar-UK commercial and investment relations are strong, balanced and growing steadily

Lord Mayor of the City of London Nicholas Lyons praised the commercial and investment relations between the State of Qatar and the United Kingdom as "strong and balanced"; noting steadily growing bilateral ties thanks to the active dialogue between the two countries on various investment opportunities.
Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), the Lord Mayor of London said that the interaction between the two countries has been active throughout history, and has deepened further thanks to the large investments of Qatar Investment Authority in the United Kingdom over the past decades, which exceeded 40 billion pound. In addition, imports and exports of trade and services in both directions reached more than 13 billion pound this year, and this number increases significantly every year, making the relationship very balanced and growing.
Lord Nicholas Lyons noted that he had held fruitful meetings in Doha over the past two days with HE Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, and HE Minister of Financia Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, on the relations between the State of Qatar and the United Kingdom.
He also referred to meetings with Qatar Investment Authority and the Qatari Businessmen Association, pointing to a two-way relationship between the two countries, and the aspiration for more Qatari investments.
He expressed happiness with the import and export figures which are rising significantly, and stressed his belief that this will continue.
On the areas that should see further trade and investment relations with the State of Qatar, HE the Lord Mayor of London highlighted great opportunities in a number of fields, especially financial technology which is a very fertile area for Qatar and those seeking investments.
Qatar has always been a major investor in the real estate sector, however, considering the fields of technology, financial technology, and life sciences in Britain will be fruitful for both parties, especially since the number of financial technology companies being developed in the United Kingdom exceeds the number of their counterparts in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa combined, he believed.
As hydrocarbon-dependent economies shift to clean energy, the importance of investing increasingly in renewable technologies to achieve this transformation becomes apparent. Therefore, the dialogue between the two sides on green and sustainable financing is very important, even if the State of Qatar is also looking for other opportunities to diversify the economy away from dependence on natural gas, he noted.
Investing in the British pension system is also rewarding because the government mobilizes superannuation funds, which are defined benefit pension funds with a long-term horizon that very naturally aligns with the long-term perspective of sovereign wealth funds looking to make long-term gains, he continued.
The Lord Mayor of London believed that there are lucrative returns and huge potential for foreign investors who invest through the pension system in the UK, which is the second largest pension system in the world at nearly 5 trillion pound, and it is invested conservatively. This investment is needed to give better returns to pension savers, and to give them more diversified returns, since the UK has no national state pension nor a sovereign wealth fund.
Lord Nicholas Lyons also highlighted other traditional investment opportunities available in the UK, including real estate infrastructure and long-term infrastructure loans; noting a great need for more investment in infrastructure in the United Kingdom, accordingly the country introduced some regulatory changes in capital laws, and insurance companies will be unleashed, in addition to changes in the ability companies to repay their debts. He believed that the value of insurance companies investment in infrastructure projects may reach approximately 100 billion pound, which will create very good opportunities for investors abroad.
On the impact of the war in Ukraine on Central London as an attractive destination for global investors, the Lord Mayor of London said that the economic impact of the war was great throughout Europe, because it led to a rise in energy and food prices, leading to an inflation which in turn caused a rise in interest rates. It is now clear that supply-driven inflation actually turns into some structural inflation in areas of large wage adjustments and wage price inflation. Therefore, the effects of Ukraine war will be longer lasting than originally thought, and inflation will last longer, thus keeping interest rates high which affects investment decisions.
However, Lord Nicholas Lyons underlined that the United Kingdom still receives a high level of interest in investment, as there are a significant increase in the number of employees and offices in London, and those who are moving more capital to invest, given the increase in attractive investment opportunities due to the rise in the number of employees and further decline in stock prices. He expected that interest rates will peak this year and will not start to fall until the second half of next year. When that happens there will be a slight rise in the stock markets, and this would be an opportunity at the moment for people with long-term horizons to invest in the UK.
Regarding the current situation of the global economy and its growth prospects, the Lord Mayor of London expected that growth levels would be somewhat low in most Western economies, noting headwinds in many economies around the world.
He noted that growth in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries is still strong, and growth in parts of Asia is still good, especially in India. However, there is a slowdown in GDP growth in China, which will have a big impact on a lot of countries around the world, as well as the United States which still sees modest growth levels. He noted a lot of debt in the system, and so when interest rates are higher, debt servicing fees take up a larger portion of government budgets.
These conditions in the West pushed the United Kingdom to aim particularly for free trade agreements with countries of the world, the Lord Mayor of London said; noting that the UK enjoys the flexibility that enables it to negotiate these matters independently of the European Union. The United Kingdom signed a free trade agreement with Australia, and joined with Japan the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. It is currently in the ninth round of free trade agreement negotiations with India, and has a very good dialogue with the Gulf Cooperation Council countries about a free trade agreement as well. He noted the desire to see progress especially in integrating services.
He expected some challenging market conditions to continue, but expressed optimism about what the future holds for the UK where the real value of intellectual capital is.
The Lord Mayor of London spoke about the way to achieve a profitable and fair transition to a low-carbon economy and the future of green business globally, in light of the rapidly evolving landscape of standards, goals, technologies and investments that work to achieve net-zero emissions. He said that the matter is very complex and multi-faceted because countries deal with environmental, social and governance issues is a different way, and their definitions of the green transition are completely different. He expressed his hope that there will be a vital and effective dialogue on all these challenges during the 28th Climate Change Conference in the United Arab Emirates.
London, as a global financial center, is considered the largest player in the field of green finance and traditional finance. It is true that there are many pressure groups that want to see a radical change and want to withdraw investments from oil and gas companies, but this is not the solution. Oil and gas will continue to play a role in the energy mix that the world uses in the next 40 or 50 years. One of the areas we are working closely on through the London Stock Exchange is the development of voluntary, high-integrity carbon markets. This will be a very important means of setting a fair carbon price that will enable us to encourage and support developing countries, and the economies of the Global South, which are the least producers of carbon emissions and most suffering from climate change. Therefore, it is important for us to develop a climate currency that enables us to transfer the value to those countries to help them deal with the challenges of climate change, he said.
In conclusion of his interview with QNA, HE Lord Mayor of the City of London Alderman Nicholas Lyons expressed some comfort at the fact that although China is the largest polluter in the world, it is also the largest investor in renewable technology and the largest producer of clean energy. So, when we think about the climate challenge as a whole, China, India and the United States together produce more than 50% of the world's carbon emissions. If these three countries did not formulate credible plans to reach net-zero emissions, it will be very difficult for us to achieve success, he stressed.