DUBAI // Two Emirati brothers are bringing a world of knowledge, art and wonder to the UAE – through the power of the written word.
They have opened a cafe in Dubai offering a collection of independent, niche – and sometimes just plain odd – periodicals from around the globe.
Customers can enjoy unique and hard-to-find titles, such as New York music monthly ’SUP, the UK’s fashion and lifestyle guide Dazed and Confused, and regional publications such as the UAE’s architecture magazine WTD.
“There’s been a lot of interest,” said Kamal Rasool, the shop’s curator. “People keep saying that they’ve seen these magazines on their travels but have never seen them in the Middle East.”
The Magazine Shop, which opened in Media City last month, was set up by Emirati twins Ahmed and Rashid bin Shabib, who are also behind such artistic ventures as the Shelter and the Pavilion.
They also publish a UAE arts and culture magazine, Brownbook.
“The shop was set up to support independent publishers, especially across the Middle East and North Africa,” Rashid said.
“There’s a general appetite for curated, independent publications rather than mass-market titles you find anywhere.”
The shop already has regular customers who visit to pick up the latest uber-cool titles.
“We’re seeing people coming back more and more,” said May El Calamawy, the shop’s manager. “There’s already a loyal following.”
One of the titles available is the UAE-based independent travel magazine, We Are Here. Its editor, Conor Purcell, said the shop had an important role to play in fostering the local market.
“It’s important for independent publishers to have a retailer that values their product and I think the space can also serve as a venue for local publishers to hold events and network,” he said.
“Above all, it shows people who are interested in magazines the breadth and quality of some of the publications being released at the moment.”
About 10 of the 50 magazines on sale originate in the UAE or Middle East. Mr Rasool hopes to expand that number in the future, but a lot depends on securing distribution rights in the UAE.
“I have a list of about 300 magazines and every day I’m trying to bring them over,” he said.
“The magazines we stock are normally those with an artistic edge. They have really good paper stock and their content is great. We try to bring in interesting titles and ones we think would stand out in terms of quality and content.”
Unlike other book or magazine stores, Mr Rasool said there was no pressure on customers to buy, and people are free to sit and flick through the magazines.
“We love for people just to read them,” he said. “We’re not here so much to make money as we are to sell and preserve this culture.
“If people are happy with them and want to buy them, that’s a definite plus.”
Mr Rasool said the fact the shop had been able to open and was attracting customers was a sign of the endurance of print journalism in the age of the internet, smartphones and apps.
“Print is coming back, it’s not dying just yet,” he said.
“I think spaces like this are here to preserve that fact.”
mcroucher@thenational.ae
T20 World Cup Qualifier, Muscat
UAE FIXTURES
Friday February 18: v Ireland
Saturday February 19: v Germany
Monday February 21: v Philippines
Tuesday February 22: semi-finals
Thursday February 24: final
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
The biog
Name: Timothy Husband
Nationality: New Zealand
Education: Degree in zoology at The University of Sydney
Favourite book: Lemurs of Madagascar by Russell A Mittermeier
Favourite music: Billy Joel
Weekends and holidays: Talking about animals or visiting his farm in Australia
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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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