Qatar’s Ministry of Finance recently announced the listing of green bonds on the UK’s London Stock Exchange. Minister of Finance H.E. Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari participated in the ‘Ring the Bell’ event at the exchange on the sidelines of his visit to the United Kingdom.
During the event, trading of the green bonds opened, marking the success of the ministry’s first green bond issuance in May this year. Qatar’s Ministry of Finance launched the green bonds with the aim of financing environmentally friendly projects.
Enhancing Qatar-UK ties
During his visit to the UK, Al Kuwari discussed the latest developments in financial markets with key leaders in addition to a number of important economic and financial projects. Most notably, Al Kuwari met with the CEO of the London Stock Exchange Group David Schwimmer in London where they discussed a range of topics of common interest, with a particular focus on the economic and financial sectors, along with ways to expand the scope of cooperation between the two nations.
Minister of Commerce and Industry H.E. Sheikh Faisal bin Thani bin Faisal Al-Thani also met with Jonathan Reynolds, secretary of state for business and trade, and Douglas Alexander, minister of state for trade policy and economic security.
The meeting discussed cooperation between Qatar and the UK in the fields of trade, investment and industry. The parties also explored the means of enhancing and developing these ties in addition to a number of topics of common interest. Al-Thani also stressed that the UK is an important strategic partner for Qatar, noting that the volume of trade exchange between the two countries exceeded $2.7 billion in 2023.
GCC-UK free trade deal
The Minister of Commerce and Industry underscored the importance of concluding the free trade agreement between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the UK as it plays a major role in enhancing trade cooperation between the two sides. He also noted that Qatar has adopted successful economic policies to support the private sector, highlighting the incentives, legislation and promising opportunities that seek to encourage investors, businessmen and company owners to invest in Qatar.
Read: DIFC announces decarbonization strategy, achieving Net Zero by 2045
Qatar to invest $1.27 billion in UK
Qatar will invest $1.27 billion in climate technology, boosting the UKâs position as a clean energy superpower. The partnership is likely to create thousands of highly skilled jobs over its lifetime and will see the launch of world-leading climate technology hubs across the two countries to accelerate the development of climate-friendly technologies.
In a further boost to Qatar-UK ties, the two countries will also pursue closer ties to seize the enormous potential of genomics to overhaul healthcare, as well as for work focusing on AIâs scope to drive economic growth and make public services more efficient. The two countries have unveiled plans to set up a shared Genomics Medicine Academy, and a joint commission on AI research.
This expanded partnership comes as part of the UK and Qatarâs commitment to closer ties in science and technology. The UK-Qatar Strategic Dialogue, launched in 2022, is also being upgraded to encompass science, innovation and technology, a reflection of both countriesâ big ambitions when it comes to unleashing the potential of science and tech to tackle some of the biggest challenges.
