Five UK ministers will be at the head of a huge British delegation visiting Saudi Arabia this week, as Britain seeks to strengthen trade and cultural ties with the kingdom.
Oliver Dowden, the UK's Deputy Prime Minister, Lucy Frazer, the Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Dominic Johnson, the Investment Minister and Nick Markham, minister at the Department of Health and Social Care, have taken a British delegation of more than 450 business and cultural leaders to Riyadh, where the UK is hosting an event called Great Futures, aimed at highlighting the co-operation and partnerships between British companies and institutions, and their Saudi counterparts.
The idea is to showcase British skills and capabilities in sectors that can support Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, the kingdom’s plan to develop the industries of the future.
The UK and Saudi Arabia are set to establish an education task force chaired by Prof Steve Smith, the UK government's international education champion, and Saudi Minister of Education Yousef Al Benyan to further co-operation in higher education.
So far, 40 higher educational partnerships have been signed, and on Tuesday, Mr Dowden said the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow would become the first UK university to establish a physical presence in Saudi Arabia, at the Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University.
An expanded British role in projects under the Vision 2030 banner is a key goal for the delegation. Saudi Arabia is promoting five lead "giga projects", expected to attract $3 trillion of investment over the next six years.
"Great Futures will be an important moment for British business," Mr Dowden said. “We’re opening up our markets to one another, so that investment, exports, tourism and collaboration flows in both directions. Britain doesn’t just endorse Vision 2030, we want to be a part of it."
Illustrating the point of investing in each other's economies, new figures show the UK's north-east region alone stands to benefit from a further £3 billion ($3.77 billion) of ongoing investment from Saudi Arabia, which sustains around 2,000 jobs in and around the cities of Newcastle and Sunderland.
It is hoped that the Great Futures event will help secure more investment across the board, from financial services to higher education.
On Tuesday, the UK will also sign an updated agreement with Saudi Arabia renewing a joint commitment to further investment.
Free-trade agreement
Meanwhile, the UK's Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch is also in the kingdom for the seventh round of talks towards establishing a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), made up of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain.
An FTA could add £1.6 billion to the UK economy, by reducing and eliminating trade barriers and red tape, making it easier for British businesses to trade with all six countries and promote even greater multilateral investment opportunities.
The two-day Great Futures event started on Tuesday and will be followed up with a programme of initiatives throughout the year.
The Great Futures campaign said the programme was "designed to create opportunities, connect with senior government and business decision-makers from Saudi Arabia’s ultra-ambitious giga-projects, and establish long-lasting relationships".
Longer-term relationships
Speaking ahead of his trip to Saudi Arabia, Ian Stuart, the chief executive of HSBC UK, said he was "excited" to be part of the Great Futures event "where we can offer our support to some of the most dynamic and ambitious firms from the UK and Saudi Arabia and help them to achieve their growth ambitions".
Sean Doyle, the chief executive of BA, said: “We’re proud to play a role in promoting the UK as a leading destination for business, tourism and investment, and build on our long-standing partnership with the Great Futures campaign to showcase the best of Britain internationally."
Others in Riyadh this week include Nick de Bois and Patricia Yates, the chairman and chief executive, respectively, of Visit Britain, Vanessa Bosaen, the president of Virgin Music Group, Lionel Benjamin, co-founder of AGO hotels and Jeff Dodds, the chief executive of Formula E.
“Visiting the UK is easier than ever for Saudi nationals with the roll-out of the Electronic Travel Authorisation Scheme, boosting our competitive tourism offer and our welcome to visitors," said Ms Yates.
"Great Futures will support us to drive growth from this valuable visitor market and to strengthen our longer-term relationships with Saudi trade partners."
In the field of education there has already been much activity in the run-up to the Great Futures event, which will be attended by Prof Smith.
Meanwhile, Sir Ian Blatchford, the chief executive and director of the UK's Science Museum Group, will be building on the success of the Museums Hub that was established in Riyadh in February.
The Hub will enable museum professionals, researchers and educators in the UK and Saudi Arabia to work more closely together and build a centre of excellence for science and culture.
"Our clear view is that there is huge potential to support positive change and reform for people in Saudi Arabia by building science engagement amongst citizens and growing a strong, sustainable museums sector," Sir Ian said.
On Wednesday, Mr Dowden will visit the historic and culturally significant Saudi city of AlUla to discuss deepening relationships and sharing cultural expertise.
Representing the cultural aspects of Britain will be senior figures from the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre, the Southbank Centre and the Edinburgh International Festival.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier
Results
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by 12 runs
Kuwait beat Iran by eight wickets
Oman beat Maldives by 10 wickets
Bahrain beat Qatar by six wickets
Semi-finals
UAE v Qatar
Bahrain v Kuwait
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hoopla%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jacqueline%20Perrottet%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2010%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20required%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24500%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
INDIA%20SQUAD
%3Cp%3ERohit%20Sharma%20(capt)%2C%20Shubman%20Gill%2C%20Cheteshwar%20Pujara%2C%20Virat%20Kohli%2C%20Ajinkya%20Rahane%2C%20KL%20Rahul%2C%20KS%20Bharat%20(wk)%2C%20Ravichandran%20Ashwin%2C%20Ravindra%20Jadeja%2C%20Axar%20Patel%2C%20Shardul%20Thakur%2C%20Mohammed%20Shami%2C%20Mohammed%20Siraj%2C%20Umesh%20Yadav%2C%20Jaydev%20Unadkat%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
RESULTS
6.30pm Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
Winner Canvassed, Par Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
7.05pm Meydan Cup – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,810m
Winner Dubai Future, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas – Group 3 (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Mouheeb, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard
8.15pm Firebreak Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Secret Ambition, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
9.50pm Meydan Classic – Conditions (TB) $$50,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Topper Bill, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
9.25pm Dubai Sprint – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner Man Of Promise, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
'Laal Kaptaan'
Director: Navdeep Singh
Stars: Saif Ali Khan, Manav Vij, Deepak Dobriyal, Zoya Hussain
Rating: 2/5
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014%20PLUS
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Read more about the coronavirus
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Tom Fletcher on 'soft power'
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
UAE squad
Ali Kashief, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdelrahman, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Mohmmed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammad Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Eisa, Mohammed Shakir, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Adel Al Hosani, Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah), Waleed Abbas, Ismail Al Hammadi, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai) Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Mahrami (Baniyas)
