Sir Keir Starmer to visit Gulf as he seeks stronger economic and defence ties with UAE and Saudi Arabia

Sir Keir Starmer will travel to the Persian Gulf today as he tries to build stronger trade ties with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

In his first visit to the region as prime minister, he will aim to boost investment in the UK and deepen defence and security partnerships, said Number 10.

The two Middle Eastern countries are among Britain’s “most vital modern-day partners”, it said in a statement.

After flying to the Gulf on Sunday night, Sir Keir will meet UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed on Monday.

Later that day, he will fly to Saudi Arabia where he will have talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Sir Keir is facing calls from human rights groups to raise with Saudi leaders the rising number of executions.

The PM said: “Driving long-term growth at home requires us to strengthen partnerships abroad.”

He added that his trip will “build a network of partners” focused on “driving high-quality growth”.

Trade worth billions

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are both major investors in the UK. Trade with the Emirates is worth £23bn, while trade with Saudi Arabia is worth £17bn.

More than 7,000 UK businesses export goods to Saudi Arabia, with such goods and services supporting almost 90,000 jobs across the country, while 14,000 UK businesses sent goods to UAE last year.

Saudi Arabia is also the UK’s largest defence exports market, worth £3.8bn a year to British industry.

Stability in the Middle East is set to be “high up the agenda” during the visit, including the need for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, and the urgent acceleration of aid into Gaza, the No 10 statement added.

‘Execution crisis’

Human rights legal group Reprieve has called on Sir Keir to raise what it described as an “execution crisis” with Saudi leaders.

Saudi Arabia has reportedly executed 300 people in 2024, its highest-ever total in one year.

Reprieve’s deputy executive director Dan Dolan said: “When Boris Johnson visited Mohammed bin Salman in 2022, three days after the mass execution of 81 people, Sir Keir Starmer was rightly scathing of Johnson’s unconditional embrace of one of the world’s most prolific executioners of protesters.

“Now he is the prime minister, he has the opportunity to address the escalating execution crisis in Saudi Arabia.”

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The trip comes after the state visit earlier this week by the Qatari emir who agreed a new long-term green energy partnership, deepened defence and security ties and discussed the importance of regional stability.

Following his Gulf trip, Sir Keir is expected to travel to Cyprus on Monday night.

He will have talks with President Nikos Christodoulides on Tuesday before meeting British troops deployed over Christmas.