Trade deals, advanced technology and security will be at the top of the agenda as President Sheikh Mohamed visits South Korea and China this week.
The visit comes at a time when the UAE, the Arab world’s second-largest economy, strengthens economic relations with other nations to enhance technological progress, make strategic investments and diversify away from an oil-based economy.
Sheikh Mohamed is starting a two-day state visit to South Korea on Tuesday, followed by a state visit to China on Thursday.
“I think the primary purpose of Sheikh Mohamed's visit to South Korea and China is to enhance its access to their advanced technologies,” Shigeto Kondo, a senior researcher at the Jime Centre in Japan's Institute of Energy Economics, told The National.
“Various industries are developing in these two East Asian countries, including energy-related ones, and I believe, he is seeking technology transfers to his country.”
China
The UAE is China's largest trading partner in the Arab world, with trade and investment spanning many sectors, including crude oil, petrochemicals and artificial intelligence.
Chinese investments in the UAE increased by more than 16 per cent annually last year to $1.3 billion, Zhang Yiming, China’s ambassador to the UAE, said at an Abu Dhabi event last week.
The UAE boosted its investments in China by 120 per cent last year, accounting for “90 per cent of Arab countries' investments in China”, Mr Zhang said.
China is also strengthening its relations with the world as it faces increased pressure from the US concerning investment and the export of goods to the world's largest economy.
Earlier this month, US President Joe Biden unveiled steep tariffs on Chinese imports, including on electric vehicle batteries, to protect its industries.
Mr Kondo said the UAE may pursue a free-trade agreement with China as recent reports indicate that the negotiations for a China-GCC FTA have stalled.
The delay is due to concerns that an influx of Chinese goods could hinder Saudi Arabia's industrial growth, he said.
Last month, Abu Dhabi and Kyiv finalised the terms for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (Cepa), which is hoped to grow the economy of Ukraine amid economic disruption from its two-year war with Russia.
The deal was the UAE's 15th Cepa which has been introduced, formally signed or successfully negotiated with nations spanning Africa, Asia, Europe and South America.
Eleven such agreements have been signed so far, with India, Turkey, Israel, Indonesia, Cambodia, Georgia, Mauritius, Kenya, the Republic of Congo, Colombia and Costa Rica.
“The UAE has continuously been showing its willingness to negotiate bilateral FTAs with other countries rather than within the framework of the Saudi-led GCC,” Mr Kondo said.
The value of non-oil trade between the UAE and China exceeded Dh264.2 billion ($72 billion) in 2022, growing by 18 per cent from Dh223.8 billion in 2021, according to official data.
“Energy remains at the heart of the UAE’s burgeoning relation with China, though in recent years it has extended beyond,” Nasser Saidi, Lebanon’s former economy minister, told The National.
The UAE could benefit from linking its financial markets to Shanghai and Hong Kong, greatly helping financial flows, Mr Saidi said.
Potential linkages could also include the adoption of yuan for trade and the extension of China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System, which is considered an alternative to the SWIFT payment system, he added.
South Korea
The UAE is currently holding talks to conclude new deals with Serbia, Vietnam, the Philippines, New Zealand and Ecuador, while negotiations with South Korea are complete.
The trade deal with South Korea aims to reinforce east-to-west supply chains, enable two-way foreign direct investment flows and improve joint research and knowledge exchange across sectors such as energy, advanced manufacturing, technology, food security and health care, Wam reported last year.
The contract for the $20 billion Barakah nuclear plant was awarded by the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) to a consortium led by the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) in 2009. This plant, which started operating in April 2021, was built to meet the UAE's domestic electricity requirements.
Mr Kondo said there was a “strong possibility” of South Korean companies being awarded the contract for a second nuclear plant in the UAE.
The UAE plans to invite bids for four new reactors this year, Reuters reported last month, citing sources.
Enec told The National that it was exploring opportunities within the UAE and internationally to take advantage of the expected growth in nuclear energy projects worldwide.
“We look forward to working with the strongest players in the market, including our Korean colleagues, to drive the next phase in local and international nuclear energy development,” said Mohamed Al Hammadi, Enec's managing director and chief executive.
“This state visit is an opportunity to celebrate our collaborative success with our South Korean partners in this growing global sector.”
The Emirates is South Korea's second-largest Arab trade partner and its 14th biggest globally, accounting for 20 per cent of the East Asian country's trade with Arab countries, according to Wam
South Korea's investments in the UAE rose to $2.2 billion while the UAE's investments in Korea stood at $578 million by the end of 2022.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
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Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
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.”
WISH
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Secret Pigeon Service: Operation Colomba, Resistance and the Struggle to Liberate Europe
Gordon Corera, Harper Collins
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
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Off-roading in the UAE: How to checklist
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