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23th June 2025
The 4th Arab British Economic Summit (ABES 2025), the ABCC’s flagship annual business event, was heralded a huge success on its conclusion on Monday 23rd June. Upwards of 800 delegates had registered for the Summit which took place in the prestigious Hilton London Metropole Hotel venue.
The programme consisted of panel sessions on key topics where growing opportunities existed for UK-Arab collaboration and where expertise aligned with the investment.
These areas were energy innovation, smart cities, infrastructure, Artificial Intelligence, healthcare and education and finance and e-commerce.
The conference discussions were accompanied by a trade expo which saw over 30 companies, mainly ABCC members, and various organisations, showcasing their services, products and projects.
The event was an occasion to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Chamber, a milestone achievement that was marked by the screening of a specially made short video illustrating some of the major highpoints of the ABCC over the half century of its service to promoting bilateral business and trade.
By providing a vital and unique platform where delegates could build and strengthen relationships, the Summit achieved all its objectives of enabling delegates to explore new opportunities and forge new partnerships.
Formally opening the Summit, Mr Bandar Reda, ABCC Secretary General & CEO, expressed his great pleasure at seeking so many people present joined together in their determination to do business and especially thanked the many Arab delegations who were in attendance.
Noting that 2025 was the ABCC’s milestone 50th anniversary, Mr Reda looked forward to ongoing successes in coming years and towards the next 50 years.
Welcoming remarks were delivered by Dr Khaled Hanafy, Secretary General of the Union of Arab Chambers, who stressed the vital importance of the Arab private sector and their strong intentions to collaborate closer with their British counterparts. Dr Hanafy described the ABCC as one of the most successful chambers of commerce established under the auspices of the UAB and the League of Arab States.
Mr Tim Reid, CEO, UK Export Finance, saluted the close UK-Arab trading relationship which he said can be traced back over 400 years. Mr Reid praised the success of ABES 2025 as a mechanism for building collaboration for closer trade and investment. Mr Reid looked forward to deepening Arab British relations in future and the exciting new opportunities that awaited us and those that would be showcased at ABES 2025.
Ms Ebtesam Alkaabi, Vice President, Sales, of Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), one of ABES’s prime sponsors, highlighted the attractions of Dubai as a global trading hub evidenced by the increasing number of UK firms seeking to use JAFZA as their base for commercial operations who were joining the hundreds of firms already established in the zone. Ms Elkaabi anticipated that the forthcoming UK-GCC Free Trade Agreement would be a major catalyst for bilateral trade.
HE Zaher Al Qatarneh, Secretary General, Ministry of Investment, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, welcomed the Summit as a means of boosting partnerships and showcasing the attractions of Jordan as a stable, reliable, open commercial environment. Jordan and the UK enjoyed strong strategic links and there was an opportunity to build on their partnership in key sectors of education, pharmaceuticals and technology where the country had shown its strengths.
He stressed that Jordan was open to new partners and investors. A promotional video concisely outlining the incentives and support available from Invest Jordan was shown to delegated at the conclusion of HE Al Qatareh’s contribution.
During the high powered sessions, speakers included Tom Wintle, the UK’s Chief Negotiator on the free trade agreement with the GCC, who offered an update on the negotiations and the growth in opportunities that will open up when the UK-GCC FTA comes into force.
During the day various panel sessions concentrated on the impact of rapidly transformative technologies and Al driven innovations on key industries such as health, education, energy and finance.
Mrs Haifa Al Kaylani OBE, President and Founder of the Arab International Women’s Foundation (AIWF), and ABCC Board member, reflected on the connections between education and the empowerment of women around the Arab region.
Speaking in the session on energy innovation, Mr Chakib Kouidri noted that this was the first time that Algeria was participating in an Arab British Economic Summit and welcomed the opportunity to highlight the potential of his country in expansion of renewables.
In the session on smart cities Mr Simon Penney, former UK Trade Commissioner for the Middle East, told delegates that he was taking part in his fourth ABES.
Mr Penney stressed the transformative impact of Al across all sectors and remarked on the impressive advances made in the adoption of Al in the MENA region.
In his closing remarks, Mr Abdeslam El-Idrissi, ABCC Deputy CEO & Secretary General, described ABES 2025 as an enlightening and invigorating day filled with great conversations and debates driven by energy and eagerness to cooperate and forge new partnerships.
ABES 2025 was the occasion for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on partnership between the ABCC and the Algerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CACI). To the applause of delegates, the agreement was formally signed by Mr Bandar Reda, ABCC Secretary General & CEO and Mr Chakib Kouidri, Managing Director of CACI, immediately following the panel session on UK-MENA trade.
Under the terms of the agreement both chambers pledge to work closer together to promote UK-Algeria cooperation and to identify joint opportunities for their respective members.
Gratitude was expressed to key sponsors JAFZA and MARKAZ for their generous support.
The ABCC was looking ahead to ABES 2026 when it would join once again with its Platinum, Gold and Silver members and all its strategic partners to further advance the ABCC’s core mission of friendship through trade.
At the conclusion of the event, the team of enthusiastic young volunteers from schools, colleges and universities were presented with certificates for their invaluable efforts during the Summit.
Host and compere Sarah Russis ensured the smooth running of proceedings throughout the day.
ABES 2025 proved to be an extremely rewarding experience for all participants and delegates as it demonstrated once again that the ABCC continues to be a strategic business support organisation for all companies engaged in bilateral trade and commercial partnerships between the UK and Arab world.
The event strongly emphasised how the Chamber’s core mission remained as relevant as ever as equally does its unwavering pursuit of stronger UK-Arab cooperation. Delegates were invited to join together once again when ABES2026 takes place.
Readers should look out for the full report into ABES2025 which will be published by the ABCC soon.