Gordon Brown to start UAE visit today

Abu Dhabi, Nov 3, 2008 (WAM) - The British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will visit the UAE on November 3rd and 4th on the final leg of his tour of Gulf States which also included Saudi Arabia and Qatar, according to a press release issued yesterday by The British Embassy in Abu Dhabi.
The Embassy said Brown will be accompanied by Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business and Mr. Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, who will have meetings with their Ministerial counterparts and undertake a number of separate meetings.
Brown will also be accompanied by a Business Delegation of senior CEO's representing leading British companies and representatives of leading British universities.
The Embassy, however, said details of Brown's visit programme will not be announced in advance.
UK Ambassador to UAE Edward Oakden said in a press conference yesterday Brown will hold meetings with the UAE leadership to discuss the current global financial crisis and its consequences on the global economy.
The talks, he added, would discuss ways to stabilize the world's financial markets and help affected countries through a crisis fund. Brown's talks, Oakden added, would also discuss the needed greater coordination of monetary and fiscal policies of relevant countries and better inter-bank lending.
Oakden stressed that the United Arab Emirates is one of the important partners of the UK which, according to him, still has many good investment opportunities on the offer for foreign capitals.
He expressed hope Brown's upcoming visit would further promote the already strong and growing economic and trade relations between the UK and the United Arab Emirates which he said is one of the important sources of UK's foreign direct investments.
This is the first visit by a British Prime Minister to the UAE since his predecessor Tony Blair visit in December 2006.