CAIRO // The UAE pledged US$200 million at a donor conference on Sunday that raised $5.4 billlion to help rebuild the Gaza Strip after Israel’s war on the territory.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas had hoped to raise raise US$4 billion (Dh14.68bn) for reconstruction at the one-day the conference, which was attended by delegates from about 50 countries and 20 regional and international organisations.
“We, through the podium of this important conference, reaffirm our absolute support for the rebuilding of Gaza so as to alleviate the suffering of its people and improve living conditions, in the Gaza Strip in particular and Palestine in general,” said Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He said the UAE denounced Israel’s “continuous” aggression towards Gaza and the West Bank.
Qatar pledged $1bn and the US said it would give $212m. The European Union pledged $568m, while Turkey said it was donating $200m – a figure matched by Kuwait.
“The participants pledged approximately $5.4 billion,” said Boerge Brende, Norway’s foreign minister, to close the conference.
Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, the Qatari foreign minister, denounced the “international silence” that surrounded Gaza’s destruction.
“While the Palestinian people need financial support, they need more political support from the international community,” he said. “A just peace is the only real guarantee for not destroying what we are about to rebuild and reconstruct.”
Organisers of the Cairo conference hope the pledges will be paid over three years to aid reconstruction in the Gaza Strip.
Israel and Egypt have blockaded Gaza since the Islamist Hamas movement took power there in 2007, causing the territory of 1.8 million people economic hardships such as high unemployment.
Donors plan to funnel the aid through Mr Abbas’ Palestinian Authority, and bypass Hamas. Mr Abbas and Hamas recently formed a national unity government, which held its first cabinet meeting in Gaza last week.
Mr Abbas, speaking to delegates, said the latest Gaza war caused “tragedies that are difficult to be described by words”.
“Entire neighbourhoods have been reduced to rubble.”
The 50-day war that ended in August was the third between Hamas and Israel since 2008.
“The [Palestinian] government will carry out the reconstruction plan with full responsibility and transparency in coordination with the UN, the donors, international financial institutions, civil society and the private sector,” Mr Abbas said.
Leading participants said the reconstruction of Gaza cannot be carried out in isolation from efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian talks in search of a comprehensive and lasting settlement and.
“We must not lose sight of the root causes of the recent hostilities: a restrictive occupation that has lasted almost half a century, the continued denial of Palestinian rights and the lack of tangible progress in peace negotiations,” said UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon. Mr Ban said he would visit Gaza on Tuesday.
The latest conflict in Gaza was the most ruinous of the three wars, killing more than 2,000 Palestinians – mostly civilians. Another 11,000 were wounded, and some 100,000 people remain homeless.
US secretary of state John Kerry said Gazans “need our help desperately – not tomorrow, not next week, but they need it now”.
Abdel Fattah El Sisi, the Egyptian president, whose government negotiated the ceasefire that ended the most recent war, said the reconstruction effort hinged on a “permanent calm” between Hamas and Israel, and required the exercise of “full authority” by the Palestinian Authority.
Mr El Sisi said the conference sent a message that “the status quo must not continue, cannot be returned to, and that any attempt to bring about temporary stability will not last long”.
“I tell the Israelis, both citizens and government: the time has come to end the conflict without further delay, to grant rights and establish justice so that prosperity and security can prevail,” he said.
Palestinian-Israeli peace talks have broken down, and Mr Abbas used the conference to warn that the failure to reach a deal posed a serious threat to regional stability.
“Israel’s aggression on the Gaza Strip exposed the fragility and dangerous nature of the situation in our region in the absence of a just peace,” Mr Abbas said.
He called on the international community to support his bid to get the UN Security Council to dictate the ground rules for any future talks with Israel, including by setting a deadline for an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian lands.
Sheikh Abdullah backed the arguments of Mr Ban, Mr Abbas and Mr El Sisi that work must begin to reach a comprehensive settlement for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
“We value and reiterate our absolute backing for the latest Egyptian initiative which calls for Israel and Palestinian factions to an immediate cease fire, end the state of violence and fighting and provide protection for civilians,” Sheikh Abdullah said in his address to the conference, read by Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of International Cooperation and Development.
The UAE called for end to settlement construction on occupied Palestinian land and demanded that the international community act enable the Palestinian people to gain their full rights to establish their free and independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The $200m aid pledge was the latest support the UAE given to the Palestinian territories. In July 2014, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, the President, approved $25m in emergency humanitarian assistance to victims of the 50-day war. The UAE also committed $41.6m to the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, Unrwa, in 2013. Last year, the UAE gave $92.3m, making Palestine the fifth largest recipient of UAE aid.
“We again reiterate the UAE’s commitment to participate and provide assistance for the rebuilding of Gaza and our support for the Palestinian people,” Sheikh Abdullah said.
* Associated Press and Wam
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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.
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