The US will provide $1.45 billion of annual aid for Jordan for five years starting next year, the White House announced on Saturday.
It comes as US President Joe Biden held talks with King Abdullah of Jordan in Saudi Arabia following the Jeddah Security and Development Summit.
The gathering of leaders included officials from the GCC, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq, and came on the final day of Mr Biden's first tour of the region since taking office.
Mr Biden visited Israel, the Occupied West Bank and Saudi Arabia to lay out Washington's vision, strategy and policies towards the Middle East.
"The United States plans to make a commitment to support the provision of no less than $1.45 billion per year in US bilateral foreign assistance to Jordan, beginning in FY 2023 and ending in FY 2029," said the statement.
The agreement will address Jordan's "extraordinary needs, supports King Abdullah II’s economic reform program and ensure the long-term strength of the close partnership between the United States and Jordan," said the statement.
The leaders discussed the historic ties between Washington and Amman, and addressed regional and international challenges.
"They noted the political and economic value of regional integration, for which Jordan can serve as an important hub for cooperation and investment in infrastructure, energy, water, food security and climate," said the statement.
King Abdullah stressed the importance of Washington's support to the kingdom’s economic reform plans, its efforts to realise more sustainable economic growth and to mitigate the impact of regional crises, the statement said.
The two leaders also reiterated "the strong defence partnerships" between them and "the commitment to their partnership in the fight against terrorism, including through cooperation within the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and the Aqaba Process".
On the Israel-Palestine crisis they "reaffirmed their commitment to continue working for a just, lasting and comprehensive peace on the basis of the two-state solution."
The solution stipulates that both sides will be neighbouring states with East Jerusalem as the capital of an independent Palestine.
Mr Biden and King Abdullah intend to "remain in close consultation and further develop the deep friendship between the United States and Jordan," said the statement.
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She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
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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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