The north of England will directly benefit from closer trade ties with Saudi Arabia, the prime minister has said as he visits the country.
Sir Keir Starmer is to visit the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Monday, in a bid to build closer economic ties with the two Gulf states.
The prime minister’s trip comes amid turmoil in the Middle East, with Syria’s government overthrown by rebel fighters over the weekend.
Its president, Bashar al Assad, has fled the country for Moscow, according to state media.
Starmer “welcomed” the fall of the “brutal” regime ahead of his visit.
Syria latest: Assad flees to Moscow
As Starmer lands in the region, a Manchester-based company that specialises in the material graphene has announced a new deal with the Saudis to use its product in a major construction project.
The deal with Graphene Innovation Manchester aims to generate £250m of investment and research in Greater Manchester, and could generate more than a thousand skilled jobs.
The advanced material is considered environmentally sustainable and will be used in Saudi Arabia’s Neom project, an ambitious megacity that promises to be a desert utopia.
