°®Âþµº

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will begin a multi-day visit to the Gulf on Sunday, his first trip to the region since taking office, seeking stronger economic and defence ties with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

He will aim to boost investment and deepen defence and security partnerships, the government said in a statement on Saturday, describing the two Middle Eastern countries as "some of the UK's most vital modern-day partners."

Starmer, elected to lead the world's sixth-largest economy in July, will arrive in the UAE on Sunday, where he is due to hold talks with President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Monday. He will fly to Saudi Arabia later on Monday to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Stability in the Middle East is expected to be "high up the agenda" during the visit, including the pressing need for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza, the release of all hostages, and the urgent acceleration of aid into Gaza, the statement added.

"There is huge untapped potential in this region," said Starmer, who is aiming to secure investment from wealthy Gulf states to help fund his mission to rebuild Britain's ageing infrastructure and shift to cleaner energy.

"I will be making the case to accelerate progress on the Gulf Cooperation Council Free Trade Agreement, deepen our research and development collaboration and partner on projects of the future," he added in the statement.

The government counts both the Gulf monarchies as major investors, with trade between Britain and the UAE worth 23 billion pounds ($29.3 billion) and that with Saudi Arabia estimated at 17 billion pounds.

British trade ministers visited the region in September to try to advance free trade deal talks with the GCC, which also includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. Such a deal is estimated to increase bilateral trade by 16 percent and potentially add 8.6 billion pounds a year in the long run.

Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, was in Britain for a state visit earlier this week, where he was welcomed by King Charles and Starmer in a show of ceremonial pageantry. The trip ended with the two countries pledging to bolster their investment relationship.

Starmer will travel to Cyprus to meet President Nikos Christodoulides on Tuesday, the first bilateral visit by a British leader to the Commonwealth country in over five decades, to discuss closer cooperation on shared security challenges in the region, the statement added.

(Reuters)