UAE considers new air laws



The Government plans to adopt changes to its air and space laws enacted in 1991 and is considering using European or US standards as a benchmark, civil aviation administrators say. On the eve of an air and space law conference being hosted in the Emirates next week, the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said it planned amendments to the laws but did not say when they would be made. Great changes have swept over the aviation industry since the laws were created. In 1991, Emirates Airline was only six years old and it would be another 12 years before Abu Dhabi and Sharjah launched their own airlines. "From time to time you need to review and amend your law and this is what we are going to do," said Saif al Suwaidi, the director general of the GCAA, while cautioning that "how soon has not yet been decided". He added that the authority was reviewing the standards imposed by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency. "We are now in the final stages of deciding whether to go with the FAA or EASA." The UAE's aviation regulations will take centre stage next week when the GCAA hosts the International Conference and Workshop on Air Transport, Air Space Law and Regulation. The event, to be held at the Officers Club in Abu Dhabi between Sunday and Thursday, will be co-hosted by McGill University's Institute of Air and Space Law. A workshop will take place from Sunday to Tuesday while the conference is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. The conference will discuss liberalising air transport regimes to pursue an "open-skies" policy such as the one adopted by the UAE, as well as the region's adoption of the Cape Town Convention, an international treaty governing the ownership and repossession of aircraft. Also on the agenda is reducing noise pollution and fighting greenhouse gas emissions, along with the growth of aviation markets. The event will include discussions and presentations from sponsoring entities including Etihad Airways, Abu Dhabi Airports Company, the Armed Forces, Emirates Aviation Association, Royal Jet, Horizon International Flight Academy and Boeing. igale@thenational.ae

"From time to time you need to review and amend your law and this is what we are going to do," said Saif Mohammed al Suwaidi (ck), the director general of the GCAA, while cautioning that "how soon has not yet been decided." He added that the GCAA was reviewing the standards set forth by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency. "We are now in the final stages of deciding whether to go with the FAA or EASA," he said.

The UAE's aviation regulations will take centre stage next week when the GCAA hosts the International Conference & Workshop on Air Transport, Air Space Law and Regulation between April 12 and 16. The event will be held at the Officers Club in Abu Dhabi and will be co-hosted by McGill University's Institute of Air and Space Law. The conference will discuss liberalising air transport regimes to pursue an "Open Skies" policy such as the one adopted by the UAE, as well as the region's adoption of the Cape Town Convention, an international treaty governing the ownership and repossession of aircraft. Also on the agenda is reducing noise pollution and fight green house gas emissions, along with the growth of aviation markets.

The event will include discussions and presentations from sponsoring entities including Etihad Airways, Abu Dhabi Airports Company, the Armed Forces, Emirates Aviation Association, Royal Jet, Horizon International Flight Academy and Boeing. igale@thenational.ae

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Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

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Company: Idealz

Founded: January 2018

Based: Dubai

Sector: E-commerce

Size: (employees): 22

Investors: Co-founders and Venture Partners (9 per cent)

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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners

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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