Mansion House Luncheon

The MEA City of London Luncheon, at which The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor of London Alderman John Stuttard was guest of hobour, was attended by around 175 members and guests and was a very enjoyable occasion. It provided an excellent opportunity to follow up on issues raised and contacts made at the highly successful City & GCC Countries Conference in June.

Michael Thomas, Director General of the Association, thanked the Lord Mayor and paid tribute to the Lord Mayor’s work in promoting the City of London during his visits to the Middle East region.

The Lord Mayor commented on the importance of UK financial services companies having a presence on the ground in the region; the need to develop relations with the Gulf, Near East and North Africa as a whole; opportunities for trilateral co-operation using Gulf capital in third markets, such as North Africa, or south and east Asia; the importance of capacity building in the region; and growing competition from Asia for Gulf funds. Some of these themes were echoed by the subsequent speakers. He had on his visits to the Gulf taken the opportunity to promote the City of London, in particular its regulatory expertise, education and training capability and role in the development of Islamic finance.

Mr Robert Gray, Chairman, Debt Finance & Advisory Group, HSBC Bank plc and Vice Chairman of UKTI’s Financial Services Sector Advisory Board, outlined the role of the Board, which is a partnership between business and government and is charged with promoting the UK as the pre-eminent global financial services centre. It had identified the Gulf as one of four target markets for financial services. Its strategy focuses on promoting trade liberalisation and parity of market access; raising awareness of the UK offering; promoting education and training; effective communications and information sharing; and efficient co-ordination and planning. A dedicated Islamic finance sub-group has been established to ensure that the City retains its existing position as Europe’s leading centre for Islamic financial services.

Jason Peers, Chairman, Jasper Capital, London, UAE and Istanbul and Chairman of MEA in the Gulf, highlighted the unprecedented growth and opportunities in the region, progress in economic liberalization and diversification, and increased outward investment. He also highlighted the increasing competition with the development of the region’s financial centres and the export of human capital from London, as well as with the USA and Asia looking to access the region’s liquidity. He stressed the importance of the MEA’s role as key facilitator of trade and investment between the UK and the MENA region. He added that the Membership will benefit from the establishment of the MEA’s new Gulf office planned for Abu Dhabi.

MEA Digest No 17, 20/09/07

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