On overview of Amaala’s Triple Bay that offers a fully-holistic wellness retreat and medical facilities. Courtesy Amaala
On overview of Amaala’s Triple Bay that offers a fully-holistic wellness retreat and medical facilities. Courtesy Amaala
On overview of Amaala’s Triple Bay that offers a fully-holistic wellness retreat and medical facilities. Courtesy Amaala
On overview of Amaala’s Triple Bay that offers a fully-holistic wellness retreat and medical facilities. Courtesy Amaala

Technology

PIF's Amaala teams up with government entity with plans to harness emerging technologies

The company is partnering with the Saudi Federation for Cyber Security, Programming and Drones to adopt AI solutions

Alkesh Sharma
Alkesh Sharma

March 01, 2021

  • English
  • Arabic

Amaala, the mega-project along the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk province, joined forces with the Saudi Federation for Cyber Security, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP) to adopt emerging technologies in artificial intelligence and beef up its cyber security framework.

As part of the agreement, Amaala, a Public Investment Fund company, will leverage AI, drones and computer programming, the entities said in a joint statement on Monday.

“The adoption of technology is integral to realising the ambitions of Amaala,” John Pagano, Amaala’s chief executive, said.

The partnership will let Amaala “identify and adopt ground-breaking technologies, from AI to the Internet of Things” to ensure it is ready for the future, he added.

Located along Saudi Arabia’s north-western coast, Amaala borders the city of Neom and the Red Sea Project within the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Natural Reserve.

Dubbed the 'Riviera of the Middle East', the development will consist of 2,800 hotel rooms and 900 private residential villas along with a retail area with 200 outlets.

The undisclosed initial funding for the project is provided by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund PIF. The project has a target completion date of 2028 and is projected to generate up to 22,000 jobs for the kingdom.

The latest pact is part of the kingdom's efforts in building and empowering national capabilities in various technical fields, Muteb Alqany, chief executive of SAFCSP, said.

Besides joint training opportunities, the agreement will form the basis of continued growth through scientific research that will elevate capabilities in the fields of cyber security and technology, SAFCSP said in a statement.

Amaala will also feature an academy of the arts that aims to further develop young artists from Saudi Arabia and the broader region. The 3,000 square kilometre development, which will be spread across the three sites, will have its own airport and target luxury travellers.

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The biog

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Reads: Newspapers, historical, religious books and biographies

Education: High school in Thatta, a city now in Pakistan

Regrets: Not completing college in Karachi when universities were shut down following protests by freedom fighters for the British to quit India 

 

Happiness: Work on creative ideas, you will also need ideals to make people happy

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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.

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.”

Red flags
  • Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
  • Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
  • Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
  • Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
  • Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.

Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching

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