Building on the enduring friendship and historical ties between
the state of Oklahoma and the United Kingdom, on Tuesday 24
October 2023, representatives of both governments held the
inaugural working group meeting created by the Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) on economic cooperation and trade relations
signed in April this year.
Richard Hyde, Consul General for the United Kingdom in Houston,
chaired the meeting hosted by Secretary Ken McQueen (Secretary of
Energy and the Environment) in Oklahoma City, with officials from
the respective governments and the Scottish and Northern Ireland
Devolved Administrations. The discussion focused on identifying
new opportunities for increasing bilateral trade in clean energy
technologies, zero-emissions vehicles, agriculture, and public
sector procurement. UK companies already employ over 10,000
people in the Sooner state. Participants used the working group
to jointly plan activities that will further strengthen
commercial links between the UK and Oklahoma and build on a
strong trading relationship worth £294 million ($363 million) in
goods trade in 2022.
The working group highlighted opportunities for further work and
knowledge exchange to develop all areas of the MoU, specifically,
on carbon sequestration and hydrogen fuel innovation, electric
vehicle infrastructure and technology, agriculture, and
Government/State procurement. It was agreed that subject experts
on both sides would take forward detailed discussion and report
back ahead of the next working group meeting which will involve
representatives from industry as part of the continued work to
deliver for businesses in the UK and Oklahoma.
