How to achieve growth in the UK? Copy the UAE
The UAE has shown what a country with its eye set on growth looks like. Rachel Reeves could learn more than a few things, writes Brandon Lewis
Flying into Abu Dhabi, you are struck by the miles and miles of empty roads leading east from the city’s perch on the Persian Gulf. Today, they are largely empty: no business centres or apartments line them and at night and they lack the glittering urbanity that marks the coastal city from above. But in reality, the roads are laying in wait, every mile marker a calculated step in the country’s regional and global ambition. Here in the United Arab Emirates, a nation has its eye set firmly on growth.
The UAE’s growth mission
Already decades into an astonishing run of transformation, the UAE is showing no signs of slowing. There remains a palpable sense of genuine anticipation about the country and its possible futures. It is a drive that invites entrepreneurs, investors, businesses and the extensive professional services industry which supports them. Unlike the UK, the regulatory environment within the UAE has been designed for clarity and compliance such that ambition is rewarded. Our country could take a few pointers.
Here in the UK, the rhetoric of growth and renewal, championed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves and company, is marred by disconnect between words and deeds. One moment, they say the UK is open for business and extend a welcome hand to industry; the next, the fiscal noose is tightened and onerous tax policies are set to stifle innovation and investment.
Panicked at the thought of losing opportunities, the government then makes hurried overtures and promises of big infrastructural investments. While it is true that this scattered assortment of notoriously hard-to-deliver regional projects pulled from the dusty policy archives may deliver growth, it will take years before any return is felt by the government, let alone its voters.
What the UK could learn
In contrast, the UAE understands that innovation moves fast and growth comes from leveraging geographic and regulatory advantages. To do this the country makes expert use of its advantageous location to bridge markets between Asia and Europe, forming around itself a dynamic nexus that is secure and strategically invaluable.
In support, the state plays the role of attentive facilitator, working to invite business, ensure connectivity and commit to a stable and inviting regulatory environment. Amid this two-pronged approach, there is a stream of conferences and events in tech innovation and healthcare, with a primary focus on the role of AI in advancing capabilities in each sector. It is a strategy that consistently brings together corporations, innovators and decision-makers to share ideas and business cards. It is a playbook the UK ought to copy.
Instead of attempting an overhaul of the economy through sluggish megaprojects that promise benefits decades down the line, the UK’s focus ought to be on pragmatic, high-impact and actionable reforms. Targeted support for high-growth sectors such as technology and finance would spur immediate job creation and jump-start the innovation necessary for long-term prosperity.
Our ability to connect time zones in North and South America with those in the Middle East is what has long made our country an ideal place to do business. Despite the recent difficulties, companies and entrepreneurs recognise this. If we can lower capital costs for development and streamline a regulatory framework that sees government act as facilitator rather than heavy-handed gatekeeper, the UK and the world can expect success.
Brandon Lewis is a former minister and Conservative party chairman