UK-based contractors and suppliers working in Dubai “need to be paid” their dues, said the British trade minister, Lord Davis, at a meeting in Abu Dhabi, reports The National.

British contractors are reportedly owed billions by Dubai-based developers.

“I think when you have a fast-expanding economy as Dubai was and then the world slows down,” explained Lord David, “inevitably it takes a little bit of time to work out some of those issues, so yes, those companies, some of them need to be paid.”

“It’s an international phenomenon; it’s not just a Dubai phenomenon. People are owed money and they have to be paid. But on the other hand, let’s not move from that to saying Dubai is somehow finished. That’s just not the case,” he added.