President Sheikh Mohamed was among the first world leaders to meet the newly re-elected Turkish president on Saturday.
The UAE head of state was greeted by Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the start of an official trip to Istanbul.
Sheikh Mohamed's discussions will include efforts to boost the "comprehensive economic partnership that bring the two countries together", state news agency Wam reported.
Hakan Fidan, Turkey's Minister of Foreign Affairs, and a number of ministers and senior officials were present as the President received an honour guard welcome.
Mr Erdogan saw off a challenge to his two-decade rule in a close election last month. He will serve for at least five more years.
Observers predict closer relations with the Gulf nations to be high on his agenda, as he looks to boost ties and attract investment in Turkey, which has faced economic stagnation and a weakening lira.
"The two leaders will hold talks later to discuss opportunities for strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries, with a focus on further enhancing economic co-operation and supporting regional stability," Wam said.
Sheikh Mohamed was accompanied by ministers and officials, including Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, and Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology.
"The two leaders discussed their shared interest in advancing sustainable economic growth and social development, and explored opportunities for further collaboration in focus areas including the economy, advanced technology, renewable energy, transport and logistics, manufacturing, tourism, and culture," Wam added.
On Saturday, Istanbul is hosting the Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter Milan.
Economic ties
This weekend's trip, one of only a handful of overseas visits by Sheikh Mohamed since he became president 13 months ago, reflects the depth of Emirati-Turkish relations.
As Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed visited Turkey in November 2021, while Mr Erdogan visited the UAE in February last year.
The two leaders held a summit remotely in March, during which they witnessed the signing ceremony of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the UAE and Turkey.
That agreement, worth potentially billions of dollars in trade, is designed to boost output, jobs and services between the two countries.
Turkish and Emirati relations go back decades.
A visit by UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, in 1984 was regarded as a major moment in Arab-Turkish relations, making front page news across the Middle East.
The total non-oil trade between the UAE and Turkey reached nearly $19 billion last year, an increase of 40 per cent from 2021 and more than 100 per cent from 2020, making Turkey the fastest-growing partner among the top 10 trade partners of the Emirates.
In November 2021, the UAE announced the establishment of a $10 billion investment fund in Turkey, focusing on strategic investments, most notably in the logistics sectors, including energy, health and food.
Air route growth
The two countries have seen a recent expansion in air links, with Emirates, Etihad irways, flydubai and Air Arabia connecting Dubai and Abu Dhabi with destinations including Istanbul and Ankara, and some of the popular resorts on the south coast.
Etihad recently announced plans to operate 10 weekly flights from Abu Dhabi to Istanbul.
With 21 weekly flights to Istanbul on Boeing-777 and Airbus A380 aircraft, as well as two flights in partnership with flydubai, Emirates has a strong presence in Turkey.
Air Arabia operates 50 weekly flights to Turkey, including seasonal flights. Most of these flights, 45 in total, depart from Sharjah International Airport, while the remaining five depart from Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Flydubai has grown its network to five destinations in the market including Ankara Airport, Bodrum Airport, Trabzon Airport, and Istanbul International Airport.
Flydubai plans to ramp up operations for the busy summer travel period. Between June and September, flydubai will operate up to 102 weekly flights between Dubai International and the five points it serves in Turkey.
Starting in early June, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi started flights to Antalya, operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, as part of the current summer season.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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