30 April 2008
City Lord Mayor urges more reform in Gulf
The Gulf states need to go further and faster down the path of
economic reform if any of them are to establish themselves as a
regional financial centre, City business leaders will be told today
(Wednesday).
The MENA region - and particularly the Gulf states of UAE, Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain - has all begun to develop individual
financial services sectors. But in a breakfast briefing at the
Mansion House, Lord Mayor David Lewis will warn they must further
liberalise their markets – opening up to welcome in foreign
expertise – and diversify away from the oil and gas sector.
The message will be delivered at a high-level breakfast briefing
– "Seizing opportunities and meeting expectations in the MENA
region" – on Wednesday 30 April led by Lord Mayor David Lewis
and the City of London Corporation’s Policy Chairman Stuart
Fraser.
Lord Mayor David Lewis, who has recently returned from a series
of visits to the region accompanied by a high-level City business
delegation, will outline some of the new investment opportunities
for UK-based business – particularly in infrastructure projects,
PPP and skills and training.
But he will also warn that more needs to be done. This is
highlighted in a report commissioned by the City Corporation
"The competitive position of the Gulf as a Global Financial
Centre", written by ICMA Centre at the University of Reading,
which will be launched at the briefing.
The report focuses on the dynamic change of the Gulf, as the
rise in liquidity in the region has seen rival states vie for
position as the financial centre in the region. The study looks at
the progress made by each state and, based on current trends,
forecasts how they will develop internationally.
Key challenges for the Gulf include:
- Relaxing state shareholdings on companies
- Mobilising local workforce will skills and education at all
levels – especially in Financial Services
- Encouraging Gulf Sovereign Wealth Funds to be more transparent
through adoption of international standards of disclosure
- Encouraging adoption of international standards of regulation
and corporate governance.
Lord Mayor Lewis said: "There are significant opportunities for
investment within the MENA region – as much as $300billion is
committed to infrastructure renewal across the region in the next
20 years. The City congratulates the steps many states have taken
so far to make themselves more attractive places in which to do
business globally.
"To capitalise on their advantages, Gulf centres need to
progress further and faster down the road to reform. Otherwise
their successes will not reflect their true potential.
"With a growing, young population the key asset for all these
states is their people and we would encourage further investment in
skills and training at all levels to create a workforce which can
lead the Gulf into the future.
"The City is here as a natural partner to share our knowledge
and skills in making this transition."
Stuart Fraser said: "The Gulf is a dynamic environment and this
report examines the complex relationships between the emerging
financial centres in this region and how these will play out
internationally. It also puts two major areas of discussion,
Sovereign Wealth Funds and Islamic Finance, into context."
Sitting on the expert panel with Lord Mayor Lewis and Mr Fraser
will be Sir Tom Harris, Vice-Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank
and Michael Parr, Chief Executive of British Arab Commercial
Bank.
Ends
Notes to editors:
The report will be publicly available from 1 May on the City of
London’s website,
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/economicresearch.
For a hard copy, please contact Karen Burr on 020 7332 3614.
The Lord Mayor acts as the ambassador for UK-based financial
services and spends around 100 days of his year visiting more than
20 countries. In 2008 he was accompanied by delegations of senior
City leaders in visits to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain,
Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Libya, Egypt and
Jordan within the MENA region. The international visits programme
for this year also includes India, China, USA, Russia, Japan,
Taiwan, Singapore, Brunei, Czech Republic, Nigeria, Ireland and
France as well as domestically Wales, Isle of Man and Scotland.