The United Kingdom’s Under Secretary for Defence Procurement, Harriet Baldwin, has spoken of celebrating the ties between the Great Britain and the UAE, and the “important role that UK firms play in terms of the security and prosperity of the Gulf states”.

The comments were made at Idex, a defence exhibition which kicked off in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

The UK has a long-standing tradition of cooperation with the UAE and the wider Gulf region, with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) making up the UK’s fourth largest export market outside of the European Union (EU).

“I think this is a fantastic showcase for the range of capabilities that our companies have, and we’ve had great news in terms of new contract awards, for a number of companies here today,” Baldwin told reporters.

“There are lots of companies who will be making announcements of contracts won over the course of the next few days,” she added.

Regarding the sale of the Eurofighter Typhoon jet to Gulf countries, Baldwin remarked that “we’d be delighted if there were countries who expressed an interest in purchasing the Typhoon aircraft.”

This follows reports in October 2016 that British defence major BAE Systems was pursuing multibillion dollar deals with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain for the aircraft.

Kuwait became the third GCC country to purchase Typhoon jets in August 2016.

Around two thirds of all UK arms exported since 2010 have gone to the Middle East, making it a crucial market in Prime Minister Theresa May’s vision of a new, globally-focused UK following the decision in 2016 to leave the European Union, its most important trading partner.

Asked about Brexit’s impact on the export of UK’s defence supplies to the region, Baldwin said “we already enjoy a very strong trading relationship with the Gulf states, and in terms of international engagement with our friends and allies in the region, we are stepping up, not stepping away”.

Baldwin’s visit marks the fifth time a minster from the UK has visited the UAE in 2017 alone.

Prime Minister May visited the GCC in November 2016, kicking off what Baldwin described as “a high level of engagement” that she believes has “enormous potential to increase the UK’s trade” in the region.

The Ministry of Defence has set its budget at $43.44 billion for 2017, with that number set to increase by $1.24 billion every year until 2021.

Asked for a comment on the recent claims that the UK had failed to meet its spending target by $471.66 million in 2016, Baldwin rejected that number, and told Gulf News: “We don’t agree with the figures we’ve seen.”

“We believe that we have met that target, and we will continue to meet that target,” she added

source : gulfnews