Politicians redraw maps; companies follow their steps. That’s sometimes literally true: recall the ranks of corporate honchos who followed the then chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne to Shanghai, where he hailed a golden age for China and the UK.
The new friend on the block is the Middle East, as demonstrated by the extravagant welcome US President Donald Trump extended to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in November. Lurking concerns over human rights were seemingly quashed by the hope of $1tn of investment.
Friendship and funding are flowing in the opposite direction too. The bosses of conference outfit Informa and Revolut are among those who have recently decamped to the United Arab Emirates. Foreign direct investment to the UAE has more than doubled in the past three years. Saudi’s was up a quarter to $32bn last year. Both are in the top 20 in Kearney’s FDI Confidence index, which ranks markets that are likely to attract the most investment in the coming three years.