ABU DHABI // More than 700 Filipinos in the UAE and the GCC will sit for their professional exams in Abu Dhabi at the weekend.
The special board exams will be for nurses, architects, certified public accountants, teachers, electrical, electronic, civil and mechanical engineers, and electricians and plumbers.
“Many of those who have passed the exams in recent years either got a promotion or found higher-paying jobs,” said Jethroefel Ramboyong, 40, a licensed telecoms engineer in Abu Dhabi.
Since 2009, the Philippines' Professional Regulation Commission has conducted professional board exams in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to give Filipinos working in the Middle East an opportunity to take the exams without the need to return home.
"The programme aims to enhance overseas Filipino workers' competitiveness at their job sites by officially recognising their respective competencies through globally-accepted licensures," said Mr Ramboyong, who is also the chairman of the Filipino Professionals Group in the UAE.
The various professional organisations in the UAE, which operate under the umbrella of the Filipino Professionals Group, help members to prepare for their board exams and ease exam-related stress by organising review classes.
Russel Pamulaya, who has lived and worked in Dubai for 13 years, was initially reluctant to sit the architecture exams, but his friends encouraged him to give it a try.
“An architectural licence is not a requirement in the Middle East,” said the 46-year-old, who heads the estimation and drawing department at an architectural design firm in Dubai.
“But I think it is worth having, especially when I decide to practise my profession back home.”
Before moving to the UAE, he worked as a draughtsman in Saudi Arabia from 1991 to 1998.
To prepare, he travelled to Abu Dhabi every Friday for six months to attend review classes organised by the United Architects of the Philippines.
“After years of working in the Middle East, it felt like going back to zero and learning the basics,” said Mr Pamulaya, who earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture in 1989. “We had to review the history and theory of architecture, principles of planning and all that theoretical stuff.”
A professional licence, he said, would give him a sense of fulfilment.
Maribel Nicholas-Galvez, 33, head trainer at Mr Pamulaya’s review classes, topped last year’s exams in the Middle East, scoring 81.8 per cent.
“I didn’t miss a single review class from March to October last year,” she said. “And now we’re trying to ‘pay it forward’ by helping aspirants like Russel get that licence.”
Last year 133 Filipinos passed board exams in the UAE. Of those, 92 were architects.
“Passing the board exams gives merit to an individual’s technical skills by the PRC, a regulatory body recognised in most parts of the world,” Mr Ramboyong said. “A professional licence can help prepare Filipinos to compete in the global market and work in highly sought-after companies.”
The exams will be held at Polaris Private Academy on Najda Street from October 3 to October 5. Other testing centres in the Middle East are in Doha, Riyadh and Al Khobar.
rruiz@thenational.ae
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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.”
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
