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OCCI participates in Arab-British Economic Summit in London

OCCI participates in Arab-British Economic Summit in London

Times of Oman6 hours ago

London: Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) on Monday took part in the 4th Arab-British Economic Summit 2025, held in London. The summit, which took the theme "Friendship Through Trade', was organized by the Arab British Chamber in cooperation with the Union of Arab Chambers.
The summit highlighted the importance of consolidating the strategic partnership between Arab countries and the United Kingdom, action to expand cooperation into different commercial sectors to enrich British and Arab markets and promote sustainable tourism, e-commerce and franchises. It also touched on means of activating the sectors of banking and financial services.
The summit saw the participation of high-level government officials, CEOs, intellectuals and decision-makers from Arab countries and the United Kingdom. The participants exchanged ideas and discussed emerging opportunities for trade and investment in new technology-based industries.

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