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Fully vaccinated UAE residents will be granted entry to the UK with no quarantine requirements as long as their vaccination is recognised in the UK, according to Simon Penney, Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for the Middle East, who spoke to Dubai Eye's Business Breakfast today.

Pfizer-BioNTeh, Moderna and AstraZeneca have been named as the three UK-recognised vaccines that will help facilitate travel between the two countries.

The issue of UAE vaccine certificates not being recognised in the UK is being resolved and should come into place on the 4th October 2021.

The ease of travel restrictions is hugely welcomed and will boost business between the two countries.

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Reports show the total number of licenses issued during the month of August in Dubai were 5,885 which is up from last year’s figure of 3,829.

The new licences issued were 59% professional activites, 40% commercial and 1% industrial establishment.

The increase follows the ease of COVID-19 restrictions, the implementation of 100% foreign ownership rules and the UAEs continued effort to provide a supportive environment for local and international businesses.

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Over the next five years, the UAE-UK Sovereign Investment Partnership will drive increased investment into sectors including technology, infrastructure, and energy transition

The $13.8 billion investment deal struck between the UAE and UK has been described as a “critical turning point” for the relationship between the two countries. The huge investment in priority sectors in Britain was announced last week and builds on the UAE’s existing programme of funding into life sciences.

The UK Office for Investment and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company signed the deal to significantly expand the UAE-UK Sovereign Investment Partnership (UAE-UK SIP).

Over the next five years, the SIP will drive increased investment into sectors including technology, infrastructure, and energy transition.

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The UAE and the UK are expected to agree on an ambitious ‘Partnership for the Future’ today, building on the historic relationship between the two countries and setting a broad foundation for future cooperation, Downing Street said on Wednesday night.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will host His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for a bilateral meetings at Downing Street, a military Guard of Honour and a UK-UAE business reception today.

The UAE is already a key partner for the UK, with total trade between the two countries reaching £12billion in 2020.

As part of the visit, the UK Office for Investment and the UAE’s Mubadala Investment Company are expected to sign a major expansion of the Sovereign Investment Partnership (SIP) agreed earlier this year. The deal will secure investments across the UK in life sciences, technology, energy transition and infrastructure. Johnson and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed will witness the signing of the expanded memorandum of understanding for the SIP at Downing Street.

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The Family Care Authority, part of the Department of Community Development has been established with the goal of strengthening ties and creating a standard process for handling family cases and services through a single channel.

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Organisers have announced visitors aged 18 and over are required to present proof of vaccine recognised by their national government or a negative PCR test taken with 72 hours.

Unvaccinated visitors can get a PCR test at the Expo 2020 site and will be free of charge when presenting any valid Expo 2020 ticket. This service will be available at selected sites across Dubai.

Safety plans also require all staff to be fully vaccinated, two-metre social distancing on site, mandatory face masks inside and outside and sanitation stations.

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Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant's second unit was started up late last month just four months after commercial operations began using the first reactor.

The announcement was made Tuesday by the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC). A spokesperson said the first carbon-free megawatts of electricity have already been delivered to the grid.

The unit was connected to the UAE grid by the plant's operations and maintenance subsidiary Nawah Energy.

"With the Unit 2 grid connection successfully completed, the Unit is in preparation to adding a further 1,400MW of clean electricity capacity to the UAE grid, with the first megawatts of emissions-free electricity from this unit now being dispatched to businesses, schools and homes," a press release read.

"This milestone takes ENEC and its subsidiaries another step closer to the half-way mark of its goal to supply up to a quarter of the country’s electricity needs 24/7, while driving reductions in carbon emissions - the leading cause of climate change."

Now the second unit is connected, nuclear operators will begin to gradually raise the reactor's power levels, known as power ascension testing.

Once the process is complete, Unit 2 will deliver thousands of megawatts of clean electricity for decades, and the plant will meet 25% of the UAEs electricity needs.

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Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) drilling subsidiary expects to raise approximately Dh2.76 billion ($751 million) from the planned listing of 7.5 per cent of shares in the company.

ADNOC Drilling's shares have been priced at Dh2.3 per share, implying an equity value of $10 billion, the state energy company said in a statement on Monday.

The subscription period for the offer opens today and will close on September 23 for UAE retail investors and on September 26 for qualified domestic and international institutional investors.

ADNOC Drilling shares are expected to trade on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on October 3.

For UAE citizens and UAE residents wishing to take part in the IPO follow this link for more information: www.adnoc.ae/drillingIPO

As part of the ‘Projects of the 50’ it was announced on Sunday that the UAE government plan to spend up to Dh24 billion ($6.53bn) to get 75,000 Emiratis into private sector jobs.

The new announcements include grants for students and fresh graduates to take up private sector roles, an AED1bn graduate business development fund, a government-backed new private sector child allowance and unemployment benefit, as well as career break and early retirement schemes for Federal government employees starting new businesses.

The programme will be managed by the newly created Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council, a body chaired by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs.

The initiatives include the Emirati Salary Support Scheme, a one-year salary support of up to AED8,000 per month paid to Emiratis to incentivise the recruitment and training of graduates in private sector companies. A monthly support of up to AED5,000 will be paid for up to five years.

It will be interesting to see how this is implemented - whether this will affect all UAE companies, in the mainland and in the Freezone areas, and whether local ownership of companies will affect the Emiratisation requirements and incentives.

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