DUBAI // The UAE's 42nd year will be remembered for its victory in the race to host World Expo 2020 and for its economic progress, says Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.
But Sheikh Mohammed, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, also used his National Day address to warn against complacency after the hard-won Expo success, which he called a shining example of the country’s accelerated growth on the global map.
Everyone must redouble their efforts as “every peak overlooks the next”, he said.
“As [President] Sheikh Khalifa affirmed, our joy in the UAE was doubled by the win as it coincides with the celebrations of the 42nd National Day,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
“This success was the culmination of a series of successes and great achievements the UAE has been incessantly making since its establishment 42 years ago, to remain in the lead in all fields.”
He paid tribute to the country’s forefathers and congratulated Sheikh Khalifa for his work in ensuring the UAE’s meteoric progress, saying the country can look to the future with confidence and optimism.
“We stand on solid ground,” Sheikh Mohammed said. “Our people are enjoying the fruits of development and becoming an essential part of it.
“Our country is enjoying respect and making a strong presence in international arenas and becoming an icon for determination for success.
“Our economy continues to flourish, registering the highest growth rates in the region and counted among the best performing in the world.
“The Government’s budget for 2011 to 2013, made a big success, leading to marked improvements in the use of resources and development of government performance.
“The three-year 2013 to 2016 budget, with a 15 per cent increase, was issued and half of its expenses have been allocated for social benefits to citizens, and human development programmes being the main pillar for the government’s policies, plans, strategies and initiatives.”
The country’s success, Sheikh Mohammed said, had been the product of the leadership’s strong vision, planning and keen interest in serving the country and its citizens.
“It is a result of continuous interaction among different generations and the unique relation of trust and allegiance between the people and their leader,” he said.
“Our success is complemented by our optimistic forward-looking yearning for excellence, encouraging innovation and believing that failure is just another experience in life and a good lesson for the next attempt.”
Sheikh Mohammed said the achievements over the past 12 months should only make the UAE leaders and citizens work harder to further the country’s success.
“As proud as we are, we are not going to be intoxicated by these successes,” he said. “They are, in fact, an alarm for us to continue shouldering our responsibilities and a call for us to rally our efforts and to move on with our task of achieving further progress to our country.
“We have a lot to accomplish and we have no excuse for any delays or poor performance. We have what it takes to achieve as we are blessed with rich resources, capabilities, expertise, positive energy, thirst for knowledge, dedication and above all, the leadership’s unlimited support.
“Every peak we reach overlooks the next. This is the recipe for success and advancement.”
newsdesk@thenational.ae
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Company Profile
Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
Initial investment: $150,000
Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year
TOUCH RULES
Touch is derived from rugby league. Teams consist of up to 14 players with a maximum of six on the field at any time.
Teams can make as many substitutions as they want during the 40 minute matches.
Similar to rugby league, the attacking team has six attempts - or touches - before possession changes over.
A touch is any contact between the player with the ball and a defender, and must be with minimum force.
After a touch the player performs a “roll-ball” - similar to the play-the-ball in league - stepping over or rolling the ball between the feet.
At the roll-ball, the defenders have to retreat a minimum of five metres.
A touchdown is scored when an attacking player places the ball on or over the score-line.
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.”