Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, second from right, along with officials at the inauguration of Trail X in Hudayriyat Island. Photo: Abu Dhabi Media Office
Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, second from right, along with officials at the inauguration of Trail X in Hudayriyat Island. Photo: Abu Dhabi Media Office
Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, second from right, along with officials at the inauguration of Trail X in Hudayriyat Island. Photo: Abu Dhabi Media Office
Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, second from right, along with officials at the inauguration of Trail X in Hudayriyat Island. Photo: Abu Dhabi Media Office

Lifestyle

Wellbeing

Trail X: 15km mountain bike trail opens in Abu Dhabi's Hudayriyat Island

Developer Modon Properties says the addition will strengthen the UAE capital's position as a leading cycling hub

David Tusing

December 07, 2022

  • English
  • Arabic

Abu Dhabi's adventure playground Hudayriyat Island got an additional boost with the inauguration of Trail X, a 15km mountain bike trail. The Island, connected to a suspension bridge known among residents as the "bridge to nowhere", is already a hub for a number of leisure activities for children and adults as well as adventurers.

Last year, Abu Dhabi Sports Council hosted the first Hudayriyat Cycling Challenge, featuring two races, a shorter one at 30km and a longer 100km route for advanced riders.

Developer Modon Properties said Trail X "will further strengthen Abu Dhabi’s position as a leading cycling hub."

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, member of the Executive Council and chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Office, inaugurated the trail on Wednesday and also visited additional cycling infrastructure projects on Hudayriyat Island that have been developed under the Bike Abu Dhabi platform.

Projects confirmed so far include a 109km cycling track called the Abu Dhabi Loop and a 3,500-seat velodrome, to be built on Hudayriyat Island.

Abu Dhabi was also awarded the status of Bike City by the Union Cycliste Internationale last year, the first location in the Middle East or Asia to receive the accolade.

What is Hudayriyat Island?

Plans to develop Hudayrityat Island were first announced in 2009, but did not initially progress beyond the construction of the bridge.

The project was revived in 2017, with plans to turn the 3,000-hectare island into a mixed-use community with an emphasis on fitness and nature.

In May 2018, the public was able to cross the bridge for the first time to access an undisturbed 600-metre beach with running and cycling tracks, water sports, a bouncy castle and a children's playground.

Since then, the island has been popular among cyclists and runners and has been chosen as the venue for triathlons and obstacle courses.

Scroll through our gallery below to see more photos from Hudayriyat Island

  • A boy takes some photos of the many wildlife art works in the Marsana area of Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa / The National
    A boy takes some photos of the many wildlife art works in the Marsana area of Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa / The National
  • The new leisure and entertainment will be open to the public on November 10. Victor Besa / The National
    The new leisure and entertainment will be open to the public on November 10. Victor Besa / The National
  • The public beach area at Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa / The National
    The public beach area at Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa / The National
  • The Marsana area will includes different restaurants and cafe's for visitors. Victor Besa / The National
    The Marsana area will includes different restaurants and cafe's for visitors. Victor Besa / The National
  • The Circuit X Ropes area of Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa / The National
    The Circuit X Ropes area of Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa / The National
  • The Bab Al Nojoum area of Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa / The National
    The Bab Al Nojoum area of Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa / The National
  • Tents for rent at the Bab Al Nojoum area of Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa / The National
    Tents for rent at the Bab Al Nojoum area of Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa / The National
  • The Bike Park area of Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa / The National
    The Bike Park area of Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa / The National
  • The Hudayriyat Courts area. Victor Besa / The National
    The Hudayriyat Courts area. Victor Besa / The National
  • The Circuit X Ropes area includes sports activities for visitors. Victor Besa / The National
    The Circuit X Ropes area includes sports activities for visitors. Victor Besa / The National
  • The Circuit X Ropes area. Victor Besa / The National
    The Circuit X Ropes area. Victor Besa / The National
  • The Circuit X skate and BMX park at Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa/The National
    The Circuit X skate and BMX park at Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa/The National
  • The Circuit X BMX park at Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa / The National
    The Circuit X BMX park at Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa / The National
  • The 321 Sports area at Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa / The National
    The 321 Sports area at Hudayriyat Island. Victor Besa / The National
  • The Circuit X Ropes area. Victor Besa / The National
    The Circuit X Ropes area. Victor Besa / The National
  • The Circuit X BMX park. Victor Besa / The National
    The Circuit X BMX park. Victor Besa / The National
  • The new Hudayriyat Leisure and Entertainment District opens to the public on November 10. Victor Besa / The National
    The new Hudayriyat Leisure and Entertainment District opens to the public on November 10. Victor Besa / The National
  • Many different activity areas and mini parks for all ages can be found around the Marsana area. Victor Besa / The National
    Many different activity areas and mini parks for all ages can be found around the Marsana area. Victor Besa / The National
  • The Marsana area includes a ping-pong table and a fitness park. Victor Besa / The National
    The Marsana area includes a ping-pong table and a fitness park. Victor Besa / The National
  • The new Hudayriyat Leisure and Entertainment District opens on November 10. Victor Besa / The National
    The new Hudayriyat Leisure and Entertainment District opens on November 10. Victor Besa / The National
  • The Circuit X skate and BMX park at Hudayriyat Island in Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National
    The Circuit X skate and BMX park at Hudayriyat Island in Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National
New UK refugee system

 

  • A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
  • Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
  • A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
  • To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
  • Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
  • Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Jetour T1 specs

Engine: 2-litre turbocharged

Power: 254hp

Torque: 390Nm

Price: From Dh126,000

Available: Now

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: Aston Martin DB11 V8 vs Ferrari GTC4Lusso T

Price, base: Dh840,000; Dh120,000

Engine: 4.0L V8 twin-turbo; 3.9L V8 turbo

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic; seven-speed automatic

Power: 509hp @ 6,000rpm; 601hp @ 7,500rpm

Torque: 695Nm @ 2,000rpm; 760Nm @ 3,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 9.9L / 100km; 11.6L / 100km

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ACC%20T20%20Women%E2%80%99s%20Championship
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20fixtures%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EFriday%2C%20June%2017%20v%20Oman%3Cbr%3ESaturday%2C%20June%2018%20v%20Singapore%3Cbr%3EMonday%2C%20June%2020%20v%20Malaysia%3Cbr%3EWednesday%2C%20June%2022%20v%20Qatar%3Cbr%3EFriday%2C%20June%2024%2C%20semi-final%3Cbr%3ESaturday%2C%20June%2025%2C%20final%3Cbr%3E%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Chaya%20Mughal%20(captain)%2C%20Esha%20Oza%2C%20Indhuja%20Nandakumar%2C%20Kavisha%20Kumari%2C%20Khushi%20Sharma%2C%20Lavanya%20Keny%2C%20Priyanjali%20Jain%2C%20Rithika%20Rajith%2C%20Samaira%20Dharnidharka%2C%20Sanchin%20Singh%2C%20Siya%20Gokhale%2C%20Suraksha%20Kotte%2C%20Theertha%20Satish%2C%20Vaishnave%20Mahesh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS

- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns 

- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;

- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces

- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,

- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.

MATCH INFO

Newcastle 2-2 Manchester City
Burnley 0-2 Crystal Palace
Chelsea 0-1 West Ham
Liverpool 2-1 Brighton
Tottenham 3-2 Bournemouth
Southampton v Watford (late)

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.”

PROFILE OF STARZPLAY

Date started: 2014

Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand

Number of employees: 125

Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3ECompany%20name%3A%20Znap%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarted%3A%202017%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EFounder%3A%20Uday%20Rathod%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIndustry%3A%20FinTech%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EFunding%20size%3A%20%241m%2B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EInvestors%3A%20Family%2C%20friends%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The BIO:

He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal

He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side

By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam

Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border

He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push

His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level

Company%C2%A0profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EOutsized%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2016%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAzeem%20Zainulbhai%2C%20Niclas%20Thelander%2C%20Anurag%20Bhalla%20and%20Johann%20van%20Niekerk%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EIndia%2C%20South%20Africa%2C%20South-East%20Asia%2C%20Mena%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Recruitment%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20raised%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%241%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20staff%20count%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2040%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeed%20and%20angel%20investors%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEnablers%20of%20digital%20services%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Blockchain%20and%20cryptocurrency%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Crowdfunding%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Banking-as-a-service%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Banking%20identification%20number%20sponsors%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Issuers%2Fprocessors%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Programme%20managers%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDigital%20issuance%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Blockchain%20and%20cryptocurrency%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Alternative%20lending%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Personal%20financial%20management%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Money%20transfer%20and%20remittance%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Digital%20banking%20(neo%20banks)%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Digital%20wallets%2C%20peer-to-peer%20and%20transfers%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Employee%20benefits%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Payables%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Corporate%20cards%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EValue-add%20for%20merchants%2Fconsumers%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Data%20and%20analytics%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20ID%2C%20authentication%20and%20security%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Insurance%20technology%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Loyalty%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Merchant%20services%20and%20tools%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Process%20and%20payment%20infrastructure%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Retail%20technology%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESME%20recovery%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Money%20movement%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Acceptance%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Risk%20management%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Brand%20management%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ENew%20categories%20for%202023%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Sustainable%20FinTechs%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Risk%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%A2%20Urban%20mobility%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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