Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to round off his tour in Northern Cyprus after visiting the Gulf next week, his office said. Reuters
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to round off his tour in Northern Cyprus after visiting the Gulf next week, his office said. Reuters
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to round off his tour in Northern Cyprus after visiting the Gulf next week, his office said. Reuters
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to round off his tour in Northern Cyprus after visiting the Gulf next week, his office said. Reuters

MENA

Turkey's Erdogan set to start Gulf tour on Monday

The President will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE to enhance political and economic ties

Mina Aldroubi
Mina Aldroubi

July 13, 2023

  • English
  • Arabic

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will start a three-day tour of the Gulf on Monday, a representative from his office in Ankara told The National on Thursday.

Mr Erdogan will visit Saudi Arabia on Monday, head to Qatar on Tuesday and is expected to end his Gulf tour on Wednesday with a visit to the UAE, said the official.

He will also visit Northern Cyprus on Thursday after he completes his Gulf visit.

Speaking to local Turkish media on Thursday, Mr Erdogan said he hopes to reach major investment deals during the visit next week.

Mr Erdogan said these investments could be made in Turkey or any of the three Gulf states.

"We would like to increase all kinds of relations by travelling to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE," Mr Erdogan said.

Turkey's Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek and Central Bank governor Hafize Gaye Erkan visited Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, ahead of Mr Erdogan's planned trip.

A delegation led by Mr Simsek met his Saudi counterpart Mohammed Al Jadaan in the kingdom.

"We discussed aspects of co-operation and ways to enhance financial and economic relations between our countries," Mr Al Jadaan said on Twitter following the meeting.

It comes as Turkey's Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz visited Qatar with Mr Simsek last week.

Last year, Mr Erdogan visited the UAE for the first time in a decade to boost economic and political ties.

It marked a significant improvement in relations between the two states.

During the trip, the UAE announced it was setting up a $10 billion investment fund in Turkey.

The UAE is Turkey’s leading trading partner among GCC countries. Bilateral trade between the two countries in 2020 reached $8 billion.

At the time, the UAE's news agency Wam said leaders in the Emirates believe strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries will contribute to regional stability, prosperity and peace.

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The bio

Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.

Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.

Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.

Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.

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MATCH INFO

Who: UAE v USA
What: first T20 international
When: Friday, 2pm
Where: ICC Academy in Dubai

On Women's Day
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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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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Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla

Rating: 3/5

Simran

Director Hansal Mehta

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey

Three stars

Updated: July 13, 2023, 12:43 PM
TurkeyUAEQatarSaudi Arabia