For more than 200 years trade has been a key part of the relationship between Kuwait and Britain. British traders first set up offices in Kuwait in 1793 and by 1821 the British East India Company had moved its trading post to Kuwait from Basra, which was then under the control of the Ottoman Empire.

In the 1930’s the British Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) sent a representative to Kuwait to negotiate a concession to explore for oil, and in 1934 the Kuwait Oil Company was formed and registered as a joint enterprise with the APOC  (later BP). Harold Dickson was appointed as the Chief Representative of the Kuwait Oil Company, at the end of his tenure as British Political Agent in Kuwait (1929-36).

Oil was then discovered in the south of Kuwait City in 1938. The first oil as exports were made in the 1950’s. Trade relations between Britain and Kuwait are today worth millions of pounds and provide employment for thousands of people in both countries. The London office of the Kuwait Investment Authority manages significant investments in Britain. There are currently around 50 British companies in Kuwait, working mainly in the oil sector, defence, construction, shipping, banking and property.