UK Tech Sector Pumped Up with £10bn Investment from UAE

“The partnership will expand the exchange of knowledge, skills and ideas that will drive prosperity in both nations.”

UAE better believe it! The UK Office for Investment (OfI) has revealed that the UAE has committed £10 billion investment into the nation’s technology, infrastructure and energy transition sectors.

It’s certainly not awful news as Ofl says Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company signed an agreement at Downing Street yesterday (16 September) to expand the UAE-UK Sovereign Investment Partnership (UAE-UK SIP), a framework for investment announced in March 2021.

The news is not just about the tech industry as over the next five years the UAE-UK SIP will drive an increase in investment across those three sectors as well as build on the existing programme of life sciences investment.

This builds on Mubadala’s £800 million commitment and the UK Government’s £200 million to UK life sciences when the partnership was established in March.

The UAE-UK SIP will become the central investment platform under the new Partnership for the Future bilateral framework, which was also agreed at a meeting between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan.

Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Mubadala MD and Group CEO, comments: “We are already developing ambitious energy transition, technology and infrastructure investment programmes that create new jobs and strengthen commercial ties between our nations.”

UK Minister for Investment, Gerry Grimstone, adds: “The partnership will expand the exchange of knowledge, skills and ideas that will drive prosperity in both nations.”

All that remains to be seen, but there’s no denying the investment is good news.

According to the UK government, the UK and the UAE share a trade and investment relationship, with total trade of £18.6 billion in 2019, and two-way investment of £13.4 billion in 2019.

The Partnership for the Future will also establish new collaborations across priorities, including climate change, education, regional stability and food security.

The development means various UAE and UK institutions will now invest under the UAE-UK SIP overseen by the OfI and Mubadala.

To date, over £1.1 billion has been deployed since the SIP was launched in March 2021.

What’s Up Gov?

The UK government has recently made some notable tech-related announcements.

Last week it was aiming for better security and innovation in data with an overhaul of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and an open consultation.

As part of this, a new governance model is planned for the ICO, including an independent board and chief executive to mirror the governance structures of other regulators such as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Ofcom.

In August, the UK government had the role of data in the international circuit on its mind with the launch of its latest strategy – with a special emphasis on the global transfer of personal data.

The announcement also covers prioritising strategic territories for conducting business, recruiting a new Information Commissioner and curating a pro-growth data protection framework. The decision is in sync with the UK’s National Data Strategy that talks about presenting the UK as a leading data economy.

Antony Peyton
Antony Peyton
Antony Peyton is the Editor of eWeek UK. He has 18 years' journalism and writing experience. His career has taken him to China, Japan and the UK - covering tech, fintech and business. Follow on Twitter @TonyFintech.
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