As part of its Economic Vision 2030, the Abu Dhabi Government is trying to diversify away from oil to grow the emirate's economy. Florent Duleux, the vice president for Middle East export sales for the missile systems company MBDA, talks about the company's push to be a part of the local defence industry.
q&a
q MBDA has had a presence in the region for 30 years. How has the business here changed over time?
a The first contract initiated here was following the equipment of platforms, either aircraft or ships. Over recent years, the need has evolved much more into systems not necessarily associated with platforms, which are still part of the needs - obviously, either for aircraft or ships - but also in the air defence systems for which MBDA can refer a complete multi-layer system. That is to say from a range of brands up to medium-range air defence, fully adaptive to the threats in the region.
q You are now in talks with the federal Government about developing a local defence industry, how are discussions going?
a MBDA has made the strategic choice to be part of it, to be at the forefront of it, and we are having discussions regarding the settlement of MBDA here as a missile industry and our participation into the development of the local defence industry. And I think that if in a few years from now we can see some common systems developed in the UAE and re-exported from the UAE as a regional hub, that would be a great achievement for MBDA.
q And you are going to set up a factory?
a Absolutely, we're having very deep discussions at the moment with the UAE authorities. We started that process a while ago and we are very hopeful that 2012 will be the ending of that process and a decision [will be] taken by both parties to launch the … factory.
q What will the factory produce?
a We make missiles and missile systems, and the discussions we have are for both. A good example is the air defence systems: you have multi-layers of missiles and site launchers, but you have one system to launch it and to coordinate all that, and MBDA is manufacturing the whole of it. We have already set up some local companies which could do some subcontracting for us as well.
q Do you plan to hire locally?
a The purpose is to develop jobs for UAE nationals. What we have in mind is to develop the knowledge regarding missile systems of the technicians and engineers [who], at the moment, [are] in college education in the UAE. Therefore, we are discussing with universities here in the UAE to add these modules to their current curriculums.
q How big is the gap in knowledge at the moment, and do UAE universities offer anything similar already?
a They have some ongoing programmes, which are being developed at the same time. The technology we will transfer here took us 50 years to build. The European industry has been built in 50 years and MBDA is the fruit of this 50 years of international cooperation. This is unique. The gain in time to welcome such technology is huge for the UAE.
gduncan@thenational.ae
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
Venom
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed
Rating: 1.5/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Result:
1. Cecilie Hatteland (NOR) atop Alex - 31.46 seconds
2. Anna Gorbacheva (RUS) atop Curt 13 - 31.82 seconds
3. Georgia Tame (GBR) atop Cash Up - 32.81 seconds
4. Sheikha Latifa bint Ahmed Al Maktoum (UAE) atop Peanuts de Beaufour - 35.85 seconds
5. Miriam Schneider (GER) atop Benur du Romet - 37.53 seconds
6. Annika Sande (NOR) atop For Cash 2 - 31.42 seconds (4 penalties)
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
TWISTERS
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Starring: Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos
Rating: 2.5/5
Jurassic%20Park
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The Bio
Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village
What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft
Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans
Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface
The biog
Fatima Al Darmaki is an Emirati widow with three children
She has received 46 certificates of appreciation and excellence throughout her career
She won the 'ideal mother' category at the Minister of Interior Awards for Excellence
Her favourite food is Harees, a slow-cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled wheat berries mixed with chicken
ACL Elite (West) - fixtures
Monday, Sept 30
Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm)
Persepolis v Pakhtakor (8pm)
Al Wasl v Al Ahli (8pm)
Al Nassr v Al Rayyan (10pm)
Tuesday, Oct 1
Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm)
Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)
Normal People
Sally Rooney, Faber & Faber
Four motivational quotes from Alicia's Dubai talk
“The only thing we need is to know that we have faith. Faith and hope in our own dreams. The belief that, when we keep going we’re going to find our way. That’s all we got.”
“Sometimes we try so hard to keep things inside. We try so hard to pretend it’s not really bothering us. In some ways, that hurts us more. You don’t realise how dishonest you are with yourself sometimes, but I realised that if I spoke it, I could let it go.”
“One good thing is to know you’re not the only one going through it. You’re not the only one trying to find your way, trying to find yourself, trying to find amazing energy, trying to find a light. Show all of yourself. Show every nuance. All of your magic. All of your colours. Be true to that. You can be unafraid.”
“It’s time to stop holding back. It’s time to do it on your terms. It’s time to shine in the most unbelievable way. It’s time to let go of negativity and find your tribe, find those people that lift you up, because everybody else is just in your way.”
