Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan meets Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in Jeddah. Photo: Spa
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan meets Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in Jeddah. Photo: Spa
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan meets Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in Jeddah. Photo: Spa
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan meets Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in Jeddah. Photo: Spa

MENA

Syria

Syria’s regional ties must improve before it can rejoin Arab League, minister says

Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad says recent visits to Arab countries aimed to turn a new page in diplomatic ties

Ismaeel Naar
Ismaeel Naar

April 17, 2023

  • English
  • Arabic

Syria must improve its regional relations before it can return to the Arab League, Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad has said.

He told Algeria International TV that his recent visits to Arab countries have aimed to turn a new page in diplomatic relations.

“The Arab League exists but then the differences within the Arab League will remain,” Mr Mekdad said.

“Syria has always believed in working with the Arab League in terms of joint co-operation that works with unifying the Arab stance on a number of issues.

“But Syria cannot accept being in a position where it’s responsible for the differences among the Arab world.”

He added: “So if Syria rejoining the Arab League helps in unifying the regional stance, then Syria does not mind.”

Syria was suspended from the Arab League in 2011 in protest over the government of President Bashar Al Assad's response to demonstrations in the country.

Algeria is one of the few Arab countries that did not cut off relations with Syria during the civil war that followed the 2011 uprising.

Mr Mekdad will be arriving in Tunisia on Monday on an official visit with the aim of improving bilateral relations.

Saudi Arabia hosts a meeting of foreign ministers from Iraq, Jordan, Egypt and the Gulf Co-operation Council countries to discuss Syria's return to the Arab League in Jeddah. Photo: Spa
Saudi Arabia hosts a meeting of foreign ministers from Iraq, Jordan, Egypt and the Gulf Co-operation Council countries to discuss Syria's return to the Arab League in Jeddah. Photo: Spa

Tunisia is expected to formally raise its diplomatic representation in Syria and officially assign an ambassador to Damascus, President Kais Saied said earlier this month.

Tunisia — under Moncef Marzouki, who was president at the time — severed diplomatic relations with Damascus in 2012 after the start of Syria's civil war.

A group of regional leaders who met in Saudi Arabia pledged on Saturday to continue talks to reach a political solution to the Syrian conflict, but stopped short of endorsing its return to the Arab League. The meeting included top diplomats from Gulf countries as well as from Egypt, Jordan and Iraq.

Days before that regional meeting in Saudi Arabia, Mr Mekdad also paid an official visit to Jeddah, the first such trip by a Syrian government official since 2011.

Although the 22-nation Arab League makes decisions by simple majority, a unanimous vote is what the kingdom will be hoping for as it hosts the organisation's next summit in Riyadh on May 19.

If you go

The flights

There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.

The trip

Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.

The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.

 

While you're here
The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

RESULT

Shabab Al Ahli Dubai 0 Al Ain 6
Al Ain: Caio (5', 73'), El Shahat (10'), Berg (65'), Khalil (83'), Al Ahbabi (90' 2)

Mubalada World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule

Thursday December 27

Men's quarter-finals

Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm

Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm

Women's exhibition

Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm

Friday December 28

5th place play-off 3pm

Men's semi-finals

Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm

Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm

Saturday December 29

3rd place play-off 5pm

Men's final 7pm

LAST-16 EUROPA LEAGUE FIXTURES

Wednesday (Kick-offs UAE)

FC Copenhagen (0) v Istanbul Basaksehir (1) 8.55pm

Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm

Inter Milan v Getafe (one leg only) 11pm

Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm 

Thursday

Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm

Sevilla v Roma  (one leg only)  8.55pm

FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm 

Wolves (1) Olympiakos (1) 11pm 

MATCH INFO

Schalke 0

Werder Bremen 1 (Bittencourt 32')

Man of the match Leonardo Bittencourt (Werder Bremen)

WHAT ARE NFTs?

     

 

    

 

   

 

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are tokens that represent ownership of unique items. They allow the tokenisation of things such as art, collectibles and even real estate.

 

An NFT can have only one official owner at one time. And since they're minted and secured on the Ethereum blockchain, no one can modify the record of ownership, not even copy-paste it into a new one.

 

This means NFTs are not interchangeable and cannot be exchanged with other items. In contrast, fungible items, such as fiat currencies, can be exchanged because their value defines them rather than their unique properties.

 

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.”

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)

Updated: April 17, 2023, 3:53 PM
SyriaArab LeagueMiddle East