Saudi shops to stay open during prayer times

Saudi Arabia on Friday announced that shops can stay open during prayer times, a circular released by the Federation of Saudi Chambers, the country's official business group, said.

The move has been welcomed by business owners and members of the public across the country. For decades, businesses have been required to shut for at least half an hour during daily Muslim prayers.

“This has been long time coming!” Farhan Saeed, a Pakistani businessman living in Dahran, told The National.

“I have been waiting for this since Vision 2030 was announced. This is excellent, not just for local business, but for us internationally. No more time lags — we won't be closed for four prayers during the day.

“We usually close for every prayer and that takes away two hours from our work schedule and costs us a lot. We could make more money in that time period and our work output would be more efficient and lucrative,” Mr Saeed added.

“I am so happy we won't have to wait outside for 30-45 minutes to run errands. Especially for women who couldn't drive or still don't own a car, can you imagine how hard it is for us to get things done? I am usually left on the street or just wandering around a mall waiting for shops and pharmacies to open so I can get essentials. But this is fantastic,” said Lama Batarjee, a Saudi national living in Jeddah.

The popular move aims to loosen strict laws in the country in light of reforms under Vision 2030. Women were granted the right to drive in 2018 after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched the sweeping initiative to diversify the kingdom's economy.

“The numerous and invaluable reforms made since 2017 represent the kingdom's potential and the Crown Prince Mohammed's ambition and confidence in his people. He is able to unify and set standards that keep us at par with the international market. The rule is another move to ensure local businesses don't lag behind internationally in opportunities nor suffer financially,” Majid Samman, a Saudi businessman in Jeddah, told The National.

Crown Prince Mohammed in 2017 vowed to bring Saudi Arabia back to moderate Islam, how it used to be 30 years ago.

“I am sure people will have a lot to say but the ultimate truth is that this announcement is pro-Islam, humanity and will help women, the elderly and children so much more than one can imagine. It's about to change the way we shop, do business and put an end to our suffering” said Ayesha Yasin, a Saudi national living in Riyadh.

Temple numbers

Expected completion: 2022

Height: 24 meters

Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people

Ground floor multipurpose hall: 92 square metres for up to 200 people

First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time

First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres

Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres

Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor

Game Of Thrones Season Seven: A Bluffers Guide

Want to sound on message about the biggest show on television without actually watching it? Best not to get locked into the labyrinthine tales of revenge and royalty: as Isaac Hempstead Wright put it, all you really need to know from now on is that there’s going to be a huge fight between humans and the armies of undead White Walkers.

The season ended with a dragon captured by the Night King blowing apart the huge wall of ice that separates the human world from its less appealing counterpart. Not that some of the humans in Westeros have been particularly appealing, either.

Anyway, the White Walkers are now free to cause any kind of havoc they wish, and as Liam Cunningham told us: “Westeros may be zombie land after the Night King has finished.” If the various human factions don’t put aside their differences in season 8, we could be looking at The Walking Dead: The Medieval Years.

Quick pearls of wisdom

Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”

Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”

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MOTHER%20OF%20STRANGERS

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Miss Granny

Director: Joyce Bernal

Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa

3/5

(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)

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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