Nothing underscores how we do not live in the future as much as the daily commute.
If travelling by car, then, chances are, the vehicle in question is running on a combustion engine – since about 1886 – that is emitting carbon and hastening climate change. The morning headlines blaring from your speakers are transmitted through radio waves, a form of communication that alerted people on land that the Titanic was sinking back in 1912.
Elsewhere, the insult of public transportation is fairly universal. Timely, clean and reliable buses and trams are not the norm, but still the hallmark of a well-managed, well-funded city.
And for those lucky enough to catch the breeze in their hair by walking or biking to work, well, those simple pleasures are more timeless than they are ultra-modern.
Whichever mode of transport you use, the daily commute today does not look all that different from how our grandparents got to work.
The pandemic has changed that, however, all at once, but not for all. Now, more attention is being paid to places that make the commute more sustainable, safer and, in some cases, more fun.
The National speaks to more than a dozen experts in urban planning, economics, transportation and property to understand the changing shape of this global necessity, which has been around since Ancient Greece.
From remote working to virtual reality
A recent cartoon in The New Yorker depicts a now-familiar tableau: a woman in athleisurewear at a kitchen table, laptop open to a Zoom meeting. An open box of treats is beside her. The caption reads: "I brought doughnuts."
The holy grail of social experiences is the ability to feel like you're present with another person.
It’s funny, but also bittersweet. The social nature of work is ultimately what will drive us back, according to early surveys of remote workers. We protest the sugar-laden pleasures, but deep down, we do want to share that box of doughnuts with our colleagues.
In a recent global survey, property consultancy JLL found that remote work should double to 2.4 days per week post-pandemic, from 1.2 days pre-pandemic.
Most of this nomadic work will happen at home – nearly three-quarters of employees want to continue working from home, two days a week on average. Remote work will also take place in alternative locations such as co-working spaces, which a growing percentage of employees support; 40 per cent now from 30 per cent pre-crisis.
The thing is, where we end up returning to could be far from the offices we left in March 2020.
For those who have swapped their commute with opening their laptop at their dining room table, eventually video meetings will be replaced by a trip to a virtual reality. Some of the world’s most valuable companies – Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and now Roblox – are ramping up efforts to make augmented and VR more of a, well, reality.
Facebook plans to release its first pair of augmented reality glasses this year, seven years after acquiring VR start-up Oculus for $2 billion.
In a podcast interview with The Information last month, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said: "The holy grail of social experiences is the ability to feel like you're present with another person.
“Nothing that we have in technology today gets close to that with phones or computers or TVs, even video chats. You have technology that allows you to communicate and that can, with different fidelity, help you see what’s going on with the other person. But there’s just something that’s really magical about the sense of presence."
Microsoft is a step ahead. It unveiled its own VR platform for developers earlier this month, called Mesh. It will be compatible with its pricey AR headset, the HoloLens ($3,000 plus), meaning it isn't ready for mainstream or wide business use yet.
Apple, too, is rumoured to have plans to launch an AR device in 2022.
Meanwhile, gaming company Roblox, which went public last month and is now hovering at about $39bn market cap, has a vision to build a real-life metaverse, not unlike the one depicted in pop culture as in the book Ready Player One.
“An average of 36.2 million people from around the world come to Roblox," the company stated in its prospectus filed to the US Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of going public. "Together they play, learn, communicate, explore and expand their friendships, all in 3D digital worlds that are entirely user-generated, built by our community of nearly seven million active developers. We call this emerging category 'human co-experience'."
Ultimately, the company says it wants this "human co-experience" to reach billions of users, and to expand beyond gaming to include meetings, collaboration and participation in the Roblox Economy, built on a digital currency called Robux that can be purchased with hard cash.
The challenge: a matter of social justice
While VR technology is fast developing, in the real world commuting is ultimately shaped by the prevailing forces of economics. And even as tens of millions of Covid-19 vaccine jabs are being administered around the world every day, heralding a return to normal activity, economies are not good.
How people get to and from work came to the fore as a social justice issue in 2020 as essential and wage-based workers – a large fraction of the global workforce – were pressed to continue to physically show up at their jobs, risking their lives instead of their livelihoods.
This happened at the same time that "a lot of cities started to notice that the existing mobility infrastructure is inadequate", Sameh Wahba, global director for urban, disaster risk management, resilience and land global practice at the World Bank tells The National.
The World Bank estimates that about 100 million people are likely to fall into poverty because of the impact of the pandemic, with as many as 49 million falling into extreme poverty. Many of these "new poor" will be people living in cities and who are self-employed, mostly working in the informal sector.
"When we talk about the future of commuting, we cannot isolate low-income workers because they constitute almost one-third of commuters [globally]. And they were hit very, very hard by the pandemic," Shailendra Kaushik, a sustainable urban development expert in Dubai, and co-founder of the Cities Forum, tells The National.
“These innovative modes like micro-mobility and [electric] e-mobility are not made for them, so governments, think tanks and financial institutions must consider how to get them into the mainstream because they are the backbone of the city economy.”
As a result, cities are and will continue to be on the front line of coping with the pandemic and its lasting impacts, according to the World Bank.
Fixing crumbling infrastructure and providing affordable housing to retain essential workers and those that make a city more liveable – from dustbin collectors to baristas and teachers to nurses – are critical to recovery, Wahba says.
When we talk about the future of commuting, we cannot isolate low-income workers because they constitute almost one-third of commuters
“And if these workers cannot afford to live closer to work, in affordable housing, then either you're going to have to compensate for their wages, or you're going to have unfilled jobs,” he says.
“Even in a San Francisco-type place, or any place where there is an affordable housing crisis, has to contend with the inability to attract new workers and its inability to retain talent.”
A key policy to ensure affordable housing, even while new urban development boosts gentrification and property prices, will be inclusionary zoning, or requiring a given share of new construction to be affordable by people with low to moderate incomes, he says.
To that end, experts predict cities will work to continue to make public transport cleaner and safer. They will need to in order to survive.
A major lesson learnt from the fall-out of the pandemic was the symbiotic relationship between public transit and essential workers, who pay the fares that provide the revenue to keep these services running.
Up to one-third of people in some cities have stopped using public transport since the onset of the pandemic. According to research by the World Economic Forum into the travel habits of people in 104 cities across 28 countries, lockdowns, the rise of remote working and stay-home orders have all meant a reduction in the volume of people commuting.
In the Greek city of Thessaloniki, for example, 34.3 per cent of people no longer use public transport because of the pandemic. In the US, about half of all commuters say they are using public transit services less frequently as a consequence of the health crisis. By comparison, half of the people in Spain say their use of public transport has remained the same, or even increased, despite the pandemic.
Keeping this base of ridership safe has taken on a new urgency amid the pandemic, Kaushik says, if public transportation is to flourish once again.
Can’t stop, won’t stop
If Covid-19 has taught us anything it is that we are at the mercy of biology – and this knowledge is important to our understanding of how we move about in the world. That is because our biology, for better or worse, drives us to allocate an average of one hour per day to travelling. This is known as Marchetti's constant.
According to Cesare Marchetti, an Italian physicist who wrote his theory in 1994, villages in Ancient Greece were, on average, 20 square kilometres, so the journey from the centre to the edge was about an hour's round trip at walking pace. This has played out in urban planning even as transportation modes have changed. The size of cities tend to increase in proportion to the speed of their transportation systems, so the periphery is not much more than a 30-minute journey from its core.
For cities like Hong Kong and Dubai, both with high rates of mask wearing compliance, public transit is not facing the same PR nightmare as it has in the US or UK
Marchetti's constant, despite enduring for millennia, may go extinct as people move around cities in a different way, no longer pulled to a central business district. For some, commutes will be closer to home and will rely on a different mode of transport. But experts say we will continue to move around, and keep the hour allocated to get from Point A to Point B that Marchetti originally described.
"Transportation is very much part of the human condition; we are all born on legs," Yale Wong, principal at Dr Transportation in Sydney, quips. He is a firm believer that Marchetti's constant has shaped cities historically, and that while commuting may change, our need to go places will not.
He advised clients in public transport and micro-mobility in Asia and Australia during the pandemic, and he says this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to harness new technologies and push through politically unpopular reforms that can improve city living.
For cities such as Hong Kong and Dubai, both with high rates of mask-wearing compliance, public transit is not facing the same PR nightmare as it has in the US or the UK. This provides opportunity for places that have clean, rapid public transit to export some of their solutions; for creating jobs, diversifying revenue streams and spurring innovation.
For example, last month, SoftBank Robotics said it will form a new joint venture with a Hong Kong biomedical company that manufactures disinfection robots used to sterilise the city's train cars. The venture will then launch a new cleaning robot tailored for commercial spaces, including offices, hotels and shopping malls later this month.
Wong says this renewed investment in research and development in the public transport sphere is a major opportunity, but he says the first priority should be to reallocate space away from cars towards sustainable public transport, pavements and bike paths.
While the concept isn’t very modern – no driverless Apple Car slipping into a parking space here – “that’s often the simplest, the cheapest and the highest return-on-investment thing you can do”.
Liveability (r)evolution
Richard Lambert, founder of London's Natural Walking Cities, agrees, and says the pandemic accelerated a trend of people spending more time in their own neighbourhoods and not venturing to a central business district.
These shorter travel times mean transportation options and city centres can be reimagined. Cars, buses and trains make sense for cross-town trips, but walking, scootering and cycling are preferred for somewhere nearby.
“When you invest in walking and cycling, people spend more money on high streets, real estate values go up, it can be a win-win in certain situations,” he says.
Urban centres will not only be populated by office blocs and fast-casual restaurants . Instead, Lambert predicts these will be repurposed to provide cultural and activity hubs, residential space and more innovative dining and retail options.
During the pandemic, cities around the world repurposed public space for recreational purposes. Early on, the city of Oakland in California in the US began temporarily closing some streets to through traffic to promote physically distanced pedestrian and cycling activity during the shelter-in-place orders, coined its ‘Slow Street programme’.
The irony of this public experiment in survival is that we realised biking, al fresco dining and park lounging are all lovely pastimes. Wahba of the World Bank says this will spur an even larger focus on liveability.
Cities also began questioning if they had adequate infrastructure for safe commutes. Some places, from Washington to Auckland, widened pavements. In the European Union, more than $1.1bn has been spent on cycling-related infrastructure and 2,300km of new bike lanes have been introduced since the pandemic began, according to the European Cycling Federation.
In Oakland, city leaders are now surveying residents to see if the programme worked and if it should stick beyond the pandemic. Meanwhile, San Francisco, London, Houston and Providence introduced their own slow streets.
Cities with more green spaces are also likely to attract residents in the recovery, according to urban scientists at the University of Omaha. In Oslo for example, the city’s 60 square metres of green space per inhabitant experienced a surge in use during the lockdown, with the highest increase observed in greener and more remote areas.
Helping residents reconnect with nature is likely to result in benefits to well-being and physical health, the researchers found.
While in the short term there has been anecdotal evidence of an exodus of families from cities to areas with larger homes and more outdoor space, experts say the recovery will emphasise a triumphant return to vibrant urban life. It just may not have a city centre.
This rise of what’s known as mixed-use space is already having an impact on the property market. According to a recent report by CBRE, 86 per cent of North American companies plan to use flexible space as a key part of their property strategies in the future.
Flexible office-space company WeWork has refined its strategy in cities such as Paris, London and New York. People can walk or cycle and be at one of its locations within 10 to 15 minutes in those cities, Riad Thoumas, the company's general manager for the Middle East and Africa, tells The National.
In China, where WeWork has more than 100 locations and the country is charting a recovery, 90 per cent of workers have already returned.
Thoumas says the company is focused on offering memberships to a more nomadic workforce, so they have access to any location in the world, meaning a commute may look more like travel.
Greater access to flexible office space anywhere in a city will change the real estate market. Wahba says on a global level, he expects cities to possibly “even out a little bit”.
“It's no longer going to be the highest land values in the city centre and lower land values in the periphery, if the periphery has much more of the amenities.”
The opportunity: e-bikes and scooters
Jaideep Dhanoa has founded an electric scooter start-up not once but twice.
His first effort, Circ, clocked more than half a million trips in the Middle East when its parent company, Bird, shut it down at the start of the pandemic. But he remained a believer and in November 2020, he launched Fenix, offering thousands of e-scooters for use in the UAE and Qatar.
The changes he made this time around speak to emerging commuting trends.
First, Fenix is not targeting only buzzy business districts. Instead, scooters can be found in smaller, quieter communities in Abu Dhabi, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah. The wider adoption of e-scooters pushed Dhanoa to add a subscribe-to-own option, with plans starting at Dh100 per week or Dh200 per month, meaning it's more cost-effective to rent a private e-scooter than to buy one. Users can permanently own the bike if they sign up for a 24-month subscription plan.
After having seen empty streets and highways, we are witnessing now congestion, traffic, gridlock and crowded parking
Safety, too, is a major focus for the company. The handlebars are heat-resistant and equipped with a hand sanitiser pump. The app alerts the Fenix crew when a scooter needs to be disinfected after use.
Micro-mobility companies globally are increasingly releasing new features that make bikes and scooters more comfortable, easier to ride and safer, according to CB Insights, which outlined many newcomers to the space.
Rad Power Bikes from the US, for example, has a new e-bike that features cargo space that could also be used for commercial deliveries. Companies focused on connectivity, such as Germany’s FAZUA, are developing connectivity software for riders to share stats with each other, introducing an element of competition.
E-bike maker Cowboy, from Brussels, has models with built-in GPS and an integrated Sim card that allows riders to lock and unlock the bike with an app, as well as detect battery level.
Meanwhile, the “best” scooters on the market “will feature sensors and software that track batteries, motors, data encryption, communication and decision-making”, according to CB Insights.
While electric bikes and scooters are set to be a mainstay in our post-pandemic realities, electric vehicles, too, appear poised for a surge.
Traffic and congestion may not have returned to pre-pandemic levels practically anywhere, but early data from navigation company TomTom suggests it is starting to pick up, in part bolstered by a preference for single passenger vehicles over public transport.
“After having seen empty streets and highways, we are witnessing now congestion, traffic, gridlock and crowded parking,” Ferial Ouahrani, an expert in transport and urban planning at Cities Forum in Dubai, tells The National.
Suppliers are optimistic about electric vehicles, says CB Insights. Demand has already recovered in China and regulation and falling battery costs are likely to continue propelling adoption.
Self-driving technology for cars, however, has taken a back seat to a focus on fully autonomous delivery vehicles, which have more immediate and widespread use cases.
The power of advertising
Like it or not, advertising makes up the bulk of visual stimuli on an average commute. Those who sell advertising space on hoardings came limping into 2021.
But a viral advertisement amid the GameStop-Reddit trading saga points to the future of hoardings, and the advertising we see in cities. Increasingly, outdoor campaigns will be tied to online marketplaces and real-time consumer insights.
At the peak of the trading frenzy, Twitter user and TPS Engage co-founder Matei Psatta replied to a tweet from Elon Musk about GameStop short-sellers with a photo of an advertisement hoarding in Times Square.
The ad read "$GME GO BRRR” in reference to the stock symbol for GameStop and a Reddit meme that mimics the sound of money being printed. TPS Engage disclosed in a blog post that it had paid $18 for the digital hoarding to play a 15-second advertisement for 10 plays over the course of an hour.
It was not only a push for the stock but a shrewd act of guerrilla advertising for the digital hoarding booking platform, which allows anyone to buy hourly slots on hundreds of thousands of hoardings all over the world. Someone took a photo and posted it on several subreddits, where it quickly became one of the most-viewed posts of all time on the site.
“The pandemic has done wonders to help the digital transformation of the Out Of Home [hoarding] industry,” TPS Engage co-founder and chief executive Bogdan Savonea tells The National.
He says advertisers are leaning toward “micro-targeting and micro-buying” of advertisements. The company increased revenue in 2020 over 2019 because it offered this option.
“The beauty is that ad technology is evolving at the same time with commuter behaviour,” he says. “Five years ago, if you wanted to buy just key hours on a certain billboard, you couldn’t. In five years from now, it will be the norm and we will be shocked that we ever did this differently.”
Savonea predicts commuting will transform in the coming years and peak hours may change as a result.
And advertising will only be one of many industries to be affected.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Building boom turning to bust as Turkey's economy slows
Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage - hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle.
Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors.
The ambitious development has been hit by regional turmoil as well as the slump in the Turkish construction industry - a key sector - as the country's economy heads towards what could be a hard landing in an intensifying downturn.
After a long period of solid growth, Turkey's economy contracted 1.1 per cent in the third quarter, and many economists expect it will enter into recession this year.
The country has been hit by high inflation and a currency crisis in August. The lira lost 28 per cent of its value against the dollar in 2018 and markets are still unconvinced by the readiness of the government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tackle underlying economic issues.
The villas close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu region are intended to resemble European architecture and are part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project.
But the development of 732 villas and a shopping centre - which began in 2014 - is now in limbo as Sarot Group has sought bankruptcy protection.
It is one of hundreds of Turkish companies that have done so as they seek cover from creditors and to restructure their debts.
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
The%20specs%3A%202024%20Mercedes%20E200
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.0-litre%20four-cyl%20turbo%20%2B%20mild%20hybrid%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E204hp%20at%205%2C800rpm%20%2B23hp%20hybrid%20boost%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E320Nm%20at%201%2C800rpm%20%2B205Nm%20hybrid%20boost%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E9-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E7.3L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENovember%2FDecember%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh205%2C000%20(estimate)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
ATP RANKINGS (NOVEMBER 4)
1. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 9,585 pts ( 1)
2. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 8,945 (-1)
3. Roger Federer (SUI) 6,190
4. Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 5,705
5. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 5,025
6. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 4,000 ( 1)
7. Alexander Zverev (GER) 2,945 (-1)
8. Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 2,670 ( 1)
9. Roberto Bautista (ESP) 2,540 ( 1)
10. Gaël Monfils (FRA) 2,530 ( 3)
11. David Goffin (BEL) 2,335 ( 3)
12. Fabio Fognini (ITA) 2,290
13. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 2,180 (-2)
14. Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 2,125 ( 1)
15. Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 2,050 ( 13)
16. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 2,000
17. Karen Khachanov (RUS) 1,840 (-9)
18. Alex De Minaur (AUS) 1,775
19. John Isner (USA) 1,770 (-2)
20. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 1,747 ( 7)
HOW DO SIM CARD SCAMS WORK?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards, often by claiming their phone has been lost or stolen
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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.”
SPECS
%3Cp%3EEngine%3A%20Supercharged%203.5-litre%20V6%0D%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20400hp%0D%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20430Nm%0D%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20Now%0D%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh450%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press
Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.
RIDE%20ON
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Larry%20Yang%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStars%3A%20Jackie%20Chan%2C%20Liu%20Haocun%2C%20Kevin%20Guo%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
Pakistan World Cup squad
Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abid Ali, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez(subject to fitness), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Junaid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain
Two additions for England ODIs: Mohammad Amir and Asif Ali
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Takestep%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20March%202018%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mohamed%20Khashaba%2C%20Mohamed%20Abdallah%2C%20Mohamed%20Adel%20Wafiq%20and%20Ayman%20Taha%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cairo%2C%20Egypt%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20health%20technology%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EEmployees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2011%20full%20time%20and%2022%20part%20time%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20pre-Series%20A%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Results:
6.30pm: Handicap | US$135,000 (Dirt) | 1,400 metres
Winner: Rodaini, Connor Beasley (jockey), Ahmad bin Harmash (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap | $135,000 (Turf) | 1,200m
Winner: Ekhtiyaar, Jim Crowley, Doug Watson
7.40pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes | Group 3 | $200,000 (T) | 2,000m
Winner: Spotify, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby
8.15pm: UAE Oakes | Group 3 | $250,000 (D) | 1,900m
Winner: Divine Image, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
8.50pm: Zabeel Mile | Group 2 | $250,000 (T) | 1,600m
Winner: Mythical Image, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.20pm: Handicap | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m
Winner: Major Partnership, Kevin Stott, Saeed bin Suroor
If%20you%20go
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The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh1,100,000 (est)
Engine 5.2-litre V10
Gearbox seven-speed dual clutch
Power 630bhp @ 8,000rpm
Torque 600Nm @ 6,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined 15.7L / 100km (est)
Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
Quick%20facts
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
The Birkin bag is made by Hermès.
It is named after actress and singer Jane Birkin
Noone from Hermès will go on record to say how much a new Birkin costs, how long one would have to wait to get one, and how many bags are actually made each year.
Spider-Man%202
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Insomniac%20Games%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%20Sony%20Interactive%20Entertainment%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPlayStation%205%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Timeline
1947
Ferrari’s road-car company is formed and its first badged car, the 125 S, rolls off the assembly line
1962
250 GTO is unveiled
1969
Fiat becomes a Ferrari shareholder, acquiring 50 per cent of the company
1972
The Fiorano circuit, Ferrari’s racetrack for development and testing, opens
1976
First automatic Ferrari, the 400 Automatic, is made
1987
F40 launched
1988
Enzo Ferrari dies; Fiat expands its stake in the company to 90 per cent
2002
The Enzo model is announced
2010
Ferrari World opens in Abu Dhabi
2011
First four-wheel drive Ferrari, the FF, is unveiled
2013
LaFerrari, the first Ferrari hybrid, arrives
2014
Fiat Chrysler announces the split of Ferrari from the parent company
2015
Ferrari launches on Wall Street
2017
812 Superfast unveiled; Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary
