Downturns hurt but solid economies will endure

Just returned from a multi-country visit shortly before Middle East Business Focus 2009 went to press, Middle East Association Director General Michael Thomas is keen to encourage British business to focus on the genuine opportunities that still exist for doing business in the Gulf region.

Don't be dissuaded by headlines that focus on problems created by global economic contraction. No-one can deny that many Middle Eastern economies have been hard hit by the global economic crisis and falling oil prices, but this does not mean that the opportunities for UK businesses to increase their commercial presence in the region have evaporated. Saudi Arabia and its neighbours number among the world's biggest exporters and investors; the needs of their predominantly youthful populations are huge, in everything from health and education to creating jobs in advanced technology sectors like aerospace, IT and petrochemicals.

With its status unchallenged as the world's largest oil exporter, and with massive development plans in new 'economic cities' and, especially, in downstream hydrocarbons and petrochemicals, Saudi Arabia is a good prospect for long-term business. In the midst of the global contraction, it is still an expanding market for UK goods and services. And it has global-scale potential: the kingdom is on the way to becoming the world's leader in petrochemicals, as well as oil exports - a move downstream that will keep Saudi Arabia as a major economy in the decades ahead.