Dubai: "The old foe of economic nationalism is emerging," Alderman Ian Luder, the Lord Mayor of London, warned a welcome dinner in the Raffles hotel on Sunday night.
Economic ties between Dubai and London were underscored as strong and lasting by both the Lord Mayor and Mark Beer, Chairman and CEO of the evening's hosts, the British Business Group of Dubai and the northern emirates. However, Luder told Gulf News in an interview prior to the event that Dubai's investment in the City was currently cautious.
"We have stuck together in good times and not so good times and will continue to do so," said Luder, regarding the relationship between Dubai and London. "We regard Dubai as one of the best places in the Middle East to do business."
"We must remain committed to open economies," he said. "Our interconnectedness is real. Disaster is what awaits us all if we turn our backs on the global world and return to protectionism."
Mindful of such a possible trend among some countries, Beer drew on the advantages London offers as a trade partner for the UAE. After pointing out that UAE companies have one of the lowest percentages in the world of bad debt on the books, he asked, "Is there any better place to be than Dubai and the UAE? Is there any better trading partnership [than with London]?"
"London has the most liberal [business] environment in Europe," added Beer. "Not like the protectionism we are seeing in France."
Despite the Lord Mayor's view that sterling is significantly undersold, investments in the City by UAE businesspeople are not experiencing a surge.
"We are in a slightly quiet period," Luder told Gulf News.
"People are going to wait to see the full 2008 reports - that the bad news has all come out."
Regarding regulation, Luder stressed that a focus on values and integrity in the business community was just as vital, however, international cooperation will also be important. "We need to make cross-border regulatory cooperation a reality," said the Mayor.
