Britain’s relationship with the Kingdom is going from strength to strength and is now deeper and broader than at any time in history.
Over the past year we have welcomed Des Brown, the defense minister; Alistair Darling, the secretary of state for trade and industry, who is now the chancellor of the exchequer; Lord Digby Jones, minister for trade; Kim Howells, minister of state at the foreign and Commonwealth office; and the Lord Mayor of the City of London.
HM The Queen was also pleased to receive Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah as her guest on a state visit to the UK. This was the first such visit for 20 years. This level of contact illustrates the importance of our bilateral relationship.
Our trade relationship with Saudi Arabia remains strong. Since we last celebrated our national day, over 30 British trade missions have visited the Kingdom.
They have covered sectors ranging from water and health to education and financial services. Many British companies have signed new joint ventures with Saudi partners and our visible trade has increased by 12 percent.
Saudi Arabia remains the UK’s largest trade and investment partner in the Middle East, and is the second largest foreign investor in the UK. The City of London is developing its role as a center for Islamic finance and seeks to strengthen its partnership with the biggest economy in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia.
The UK is now also a significant importer from Saudi Arabia — nearly $2bn in 2007 and there are over 200 joint ventures current with a total investment of over $14bn.
We have shared interests with Saudi Arabia in promoting regional stability. Our partnership on counter-terrorism continues to grow as does our cooperation in the area of education and training.
We are building on these and finding more areas where we can work together, for example energy and climate security.
The UK is an increasingly attractive destination for Saudi students. Over 6,000 are currently studying at universities and colleges there. We hope to double this number in the next few years. To ease the travel arrangements of our Saudi visitors, we have successfully introduced a new biometric visa system without losing our No. 1 position as the quickest and most efficient visa service.
My embassy will continue to devote itself in the coming year to working hard to develop this relationship to the mutual advantage of both countries and their peoples.
William Patey CMG, British Ambassador