Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to help increase collaboration between UK and Qatari financial institutions in (a) capital markets, (b) sustainable finance and (c) financial technology, in the context of the Memorandum of Understanding on financial services.

The UK and Qatar share a strong trade and investment partnership, with a total trade volume of over £5.6 billion in 2024, contributing to economic growth, diversification, innovation and job creation.

To reflect the important role that the financial services sector plays in achieving both the UK Government’s economic growth mission and Qatar’s National Vision 2030, the Chancellor and Qatar’s Finance Minister signed a Financial Services Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between HM Treasury and the Qatar Ministry of Finance in December 2024. The MoU identifies capital markets, sustainable finance, and fintech as priority areas of interest. Work is underway to identify opportunities for collaboration within these subsectors, and the first annual UK-Qatar Financial Services Working Group will be held later this year.