IBBC had a presence at the Conservative conference.

The fringes were where most action took place, with a huge array of topics and debates, but noticeably this year the focus was on AI, technology and its impact on productivity, government, and regulation and a lot of renewable and energy discussions. The carbon capture alliance was high profile under the CCSA banner, as UK expects to capture millions of tons of C02 by 2027, and produce green hydrogen around the coastline.

The Middle east was supported by CMEC and Tony Blair Foundation for change, where we met the Bahrain Ambassador, Dr Fox MP (working with the Abrahamic accord and start-ups in UAE) Charlotte Leslie of CMEC and Professor Azreen Ibrahim (from SSI and war studies expert). A second CMEC event took place with Lord Dominic Johnson, who is overseeing an FTA with GCC companies, and was attended by both the Saudi and UAE ambassadors. (the Iraqi deputy ambassador was also present along with other ambassadors)

The events examined the regional transformation that is going on in the Gulf, and the opportunities to trade with UK and complete an FTA: Key outtakes include the Middle east can be the stepping stone to Asia for UK (where expansion due to take place fastest) as it is a good logistical hub, while Europe was 40% of global trade in 1990 it is 16% now and expected to be 9% in 2050. Therefore, East Asia and the Gulf is where the opportunity to grow and trade exists. The statistics for growth in Saudi and the region are expecting a tripling of economies by 2050 and for UK to increase trade with GCC ahead of EU (GCC already UK’s 4^th largest trading partner at $60 bn/a).

CMEC then hosted the Arab leader’s reception at which the Foreign Secretary, Alicia Kearns MP (head of defence select committee, Charlotte Leslie (director of CMEC) addressed a capacity room, with most GCC ambassadors and an Israeli representative present.

At the Onward event, The Foreign secretary James Cleverly, responded to an IBBC question about the perception US and UK are withdrawing from Middle East, to create a vacuum being filled by Russia and China- to which he agreed and said “we had taken our eye off the ball in the last 5 years”, but he also said that he intends to visit the region more regularly and raise UK presence. He also visited the KRG stand and met Mr Karwan Tahir and his team.