DUBAI // Thousands of food outlets that have yet to send a member of staff for municipal training may be fined up to Dh2,000 from next month.
The municipality yesterday warned that all restaurants, supermarkets, caterers and anyone else serving food to the public must have a certified "Person In Charge" (Pic) by January 1 or risk penalties.
"They will be fined if they do not have a Pic," said Asia Al Raeesi, the head of food planning and studies at the municipality.
"We are initially focusing on high-risk businesses. The Pic will be held accountable for food safety. We expect more responsible behaviour from them."
More than 6,000 people from more than 4,000 outlets have been trained this year to become Pics. Authorities expect another 1,000 establishments to be certified by the end of the month.
The municipality estimated there were more than 10,000 food businesses in the emirate.
The drive, which officially began in January this year, aims to raise safety standards and lower the number of food-poisoning cases.
Officials said the campaign would promote self-regulation among food suppliers.
"The Person In Charge programme is based on the principle that a trained and certified manager can enhance food safety in an establishment" said Ms Al Raeesi.
Offenders can receive a fine of Dh200 but the amount is be doubled each time an offence is committed, to a maximum of Dh2,000.
"For health and safety inspections to be effective, a Pic has to be present," Ms Al Raeesi said, adding the municipality would not carry out inspections if the outlet did not have a certified manager.
The designated supervisor or manager must take part in intensive training for two or three days, depending on the size of their establishment.
The sessions focus on handling food items, storage and serving, temperature control, personal hygiene, staff grooming and sanitisation.
"They go through practical sessions since a Pic should know what to do if a problem arises," Ms Al Raeesi said. "There is a handbook that tells them who to call."
The guides are being prepared in Arabic, Urdu and Malayalam.
"We are looking at helping them out and creating a positive relationship," she said. "A Pic should feel free to call Dubai Municipality if they are facing problems."
Restaurant managers say the Pic initiative has already improved their relationship with authorities.
"We used to worry if there were complaints of food poisoning from customers," said Silji Varghese, a manager and Pic at the Calicut Paragon Indian restaurant in Al Karama. "But when we follow all the regulations, we can confidently say if it is our fault or not.
"And if customers threaten to call officials, we now also have access to the municipality and we can directly inform them of incidents."
After three days of training this year, Mr Varghese said he regularly checked if suppliers were handling food correctly, maintained a log book, monitored the temperature of the refrigerators and oversaw staff grooming.
"This is a new approach," said Bobby Krishna, the senior food studies and surveys officer at the municipality's food control department.
"The future of food safety is to have managers in control in their businesses.
"A positive food-safety culture will not be possible unless the manager exerts direct control over food handling."
Candidates must register at the food control department, undergo the course and sit for an exam at the end of it, after which Pics are accredited by the municipality.
Licences will be renewed every five years.
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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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