Manhat, a UAE start-up dedicated to sustainable water and floating farm solutions, has been honoured at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, receiving the Best Practices Award.
It is one of 25 start-ups from around the world to win the award celebrating endeavours tackling global challenges.
The water-technology start-up's story is being showed in the best practices area of the global exhibition, and the company will also have the opportunity to participate in a larger event focused on sustainability solutions taking place in July.
“We are deeply honoured to represent the UAE on this global stage,” said Emirati founder Saeed Alhassan, an engineering professor at Khalifa University.
“This recognition reflects years of deep tech research and a strong belief in nature-based solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems.”
Vishnu Vijayan Pillai, co-founder of Manhat, called the award a milestone for the company and a significant moment for the UAE on the sustainable innovation stage.
“Being selected as one of the world’s Best Practices at Expo 2025 gives us a powerful global platform to share our mission of providing clean water solutions in harmony with nature,” he said.
In 2022, Manhat announced that it had created a device using proprietary technology to generate fresh water from the ocean without using electricity, addressing a major hurdle as the Arabian Gulf seeks ways to ensure water and food security.
“Water basically evaporates from the bottom side,” Mr Alhassan told The National in a previous interview, explaining the device.
“And then it goes up and it fills this sphere, and when the night comes and the temperature drops, then the water condenses inside and gets collected in this reservoir here.”
Mr Alhassan emphasised that the desalination methods used by regions with water scarcity are often energy intensive, and in some cases, have the potential to create more pollution.
He is working to manufacture Manhat's devices in a way that gets them to a better price point and eventually makes them accessible to the masses.
While it fine-tunes its prototypes and works on other potential water solutions, Manhat has also filed patents for floating farm solutions that integrate the company's devices that will allow for the production of food even if sea levels continue to rise as a result of climate change.
Amid concerns about climate change, particularly in regions where rain is scarce and importing water costly, water innovations have offered a glimmer of hope for long-term solutions that might prevent major problems and even bolster crop security.
According to the UN, of the 17 most water-stressed countries in the world, 11 are in the Middle East and North Africa, making it one of the most affected regions in the world.
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
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.”
LILO & STITCH
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'Panga'
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Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
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Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
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