BEIRUT // Internet service was restored in Syria yesterday after a countrywide outage cut off the country from the world for nearly 20 hours, state media said.
The state news agency Sana said a problem with a fibre optics cable was to blame for the second nationwide outage since a two-day blackout in November.
There had been speculation that the regime pulled the plug, possibly as a cover for military actions in the deadly conflict, now in its third year. But no large-scale military offensives were reported yesterday, and there were no immediate allegations of sabotage by the opposition.
In the past, president Bashar Al Assad's government halted internet service in selected areas during government offensives to disrupt communication among rebel fighters trying to remove him.
The last nationwide blackout coincided with a major military operation in areas around the capital and near Damascus Airport.
Humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees got a boost yesterday with news the United States will give another US$100 million (Dh367m), boosting its total to $510 million, the US state department said.
The additional funds, to be officially announced today by John Kerry, the US secretary of state, will help fund United Nations' programmes providing shelter, food and help to refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey as well as inside Syria, the department said in a statement.
In Geneva, the international envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, welcomed a new Russian-US initiative to negotiate an end to the Syrian conflict, which so far has claimed the lives of more than 70,000 people, according to the UN.
A decision to convene an international conference later this month to build on a transition plan for Syria is "the first hopeful news" concerning Syria "in a very long time", Mr Brahimi said.
The goal of the plan, set out in Geneva last year, is to bring the Al Assad regime and representatives from the opposition together for talks on an interim government. Each side would be allowed to veto candidates it finds unacceptable.
The proposal also calls for an open-ended ceasefire and the formation of a transitional government to run the country until new elections can be held and a new constitution drafted.
Mr Brahimi has repeatedly expressed frustrations over the failure to find a political solution in Syria and has lamented the divisions on the UN Security Council that have prevented any international action from being taken.
Iran, one of Mr Al Assad's strongest allies, also said it is ready to help any attempt to end Syria's crisis.
Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi wrote in an opinion piece that it is up to the Syrian people to choose their political system and president, suggesting Tehran is not wedded to Mr Al Assad's continued rule.
"Iran is ready to make successful any fair initiative that guarantees the interests of the Syrian people and restores stability to this country," he wrote in the Lebanese daily Al Akhbar.
The main opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, said yesterday it welcomed efforts to reach a political solution, but reiterated that any transition must begin with the departure of Mr Al Assad and officials in his regime.
Syrian officials have said that Mr Al Assad will stay in his post until his seven-year term ends next year and he will run again. The Syrian opposition says it will not accept anything less than his departure.
In fighting in Syria yesterday, government troops pushed into a strategic town along the highway leading to the Jordanian border.
The regime's advance into Khirbet Ghazaleh, a town south of Damascus along a key artery to the border, came after weeks of fighting and government attempts to secure the highway.
* Associated Press with additional reports from Agence France-Presse and Reuters
Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
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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