Beach Canteen at Dubai Food Festival. Courtesy Dubai Food Festival
Beach Canteen at Dubai Food Festival. Courtesy Dubai Food Festival

Up next for the Abu Dhabi and Dubai Food festivals



The Dubai Food Festival and Abu Dhabi Food Festival are in full swing. If you haven’t had a taste of the festivals yet, there are still many more bites to come.

Next up for the Abu Dhabi Food Festival:

Tonight is the start of the seventh edition of Gourmet Abu Dhabi. There is no officially opening gala, but there is an unofficial opening party to start the festivities at the Hyatt Capital Gate Abu Dhabi. The restaurant 18° will host a culinary tour through the Eastern Mediterranean region tonight where executive sous chef Michelle Mueller will prepare Levantine dishes for guests. From 7pm to 10pm, February 11. Dh250, inclusive of select beverages. For reservations, call 02 596 1440.

From tonight through February 14, visiting Swedish Chefs Niclas Yngvesson and Gustav Knutsson (owners of the Michelin-starred restaurant Bhoga) will serve up their signature Scandinavian fare at Finz in the Beach Rotana. To book a table, call 02 697 9000.

On February 12 and 13, book a table for dinner with Michelin-starred chef Wilco Berends at Jazz Bar in the Hilton Abu Dhabi on the Corniche. The à la carte meal will be served from 7pm to midnight. For reservations, call 02 681 1900.

And don’t miss Street Feast in Al Ain this weekend. The caravan of food trucks – 10 of which have sailed in from the UK – will be at Al Jahili Park in Al Ain from Thursday to Saturday. Local and international food trucks will be on site slinging street food to the masses in a party atmosphere. There will be chef demonstrations, musicians, falconry demonstrations and more. From 6pm to midnight on Thursday; From 2pm to midnight on Friday and Saturday.

For more information, visit abudhabifoodfest.ae.

Next up for the Dubai Food Festival:

At the Beach Canteen along Kite Beach, the healthy snack delivery service Munchbox will host a pop-up cafe today and tomorrow (February 11 and 12). On Friday and Saturday (February 13 and 14), The Inventing Room – an innovative restaurant visiting from the United States – will host a pop up to show off its creative culinary style with liquid nitrogen apple pie Kool-Aid and exploding whipped cream.

The Dubai Food Carnival – a three-day festival within a festival – kicks off tomorrow at Dubai International Marine Club. There will be a range of celebrity chefs, cookery demonstrations, food competitions, kids' activities and much more on offer. For tickets and a schedule, visit www.dubaifoodcarnvial.com.

And don’t miss the Food & Film Festival nights. Food-inspired films are being shown free of charge at outdoor venues around the city. Tonight (February 11), you can catch The Hundred-Foot Journey at 7pm at the Beach Canteen (Indian and French street food will be served). Or catch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on February 13 at 6pm, also at the Beach Canteen. The Inventing Room will be serving Willy Wonka-inspired bites during the movie.

The Dubai Food Festival has nearly 20 different events happening throughout the Emirate through February 28. For a schedule of events, visit www.dubaifoodfestival.com.

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Europe’s rearming plan
  • Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
  • Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
  • Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
  • Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
  • Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
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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.”

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Result

Arsenal 4
Monreal (51'), Ramsey (82'), Lacazette 85', 89')

West Ham United 1
Arnautovic (64')

Scores in brief:

  • New Medical Centre 129-5 in 17 overs bt Zayed Cricket Academy 125-6 in 20 overs.
  • William Hare Abu Dhabi Gymkhana 188-8 in 20 overs bt One Stop Tourism 184-8 in 20 overs
  • Alubond Tigers 138-7 in 20 overs bt United Bank Limited 132-7 in 20 overs
  • Multiplex 142-6 in 17 overs bt Xconcepts Automobili 140 all out in 20 overs
The schedule

December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club

December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq

December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm

December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition

December 13: Falcon beauty competition

December 14 and 20: Saluki races

December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm

December 16 - 19: Falconry competition

December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am

December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am

December 22: The best herd of 30 camels