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Ukraine has sent 1,000 tonnes of wheat to Gaza through Jordan as part of a 7,000-tonne package for the war-battered Palestinian territory.
The shipment, announced by the Ukrainian embassy in Amman, is Kyiv's first participation in the international effort to assist more than two million people struggling with acute shortages of food, water, fuel, medical care and shelter after nine months of war.
Jordan, together with Egypt, has acted as a launch pad for aid into Gaza amid Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries since the war began in October.
The Ukrainian embassy said wheat was sent from Jordan to Gaza through Israel, using a land corridor partly overseen by the UN World Food Programme. Another 6,000 tonnes earmarked “for Palestine” will follow.
“We will do whatever we can to guarantee that the victims of the war in Palestine don't suffer from hunger,” said Myroslava Shcherbatiuk, Ukraine's ambassador to Jordan.
“We hope that the cargo will help people in need in Gaza receive essential food and show our solidarity,” she added.
“Ukraine stands with the people of Gaza and for the two-state solution in this decades-long conflict.”
The aid is part of the Grain from Ukraine programme launched by Kyiv two years ago to supply wheat to international organisations and directly to countries facing food shortages. Under the programme, grain has been shipped to Somalia, Yemen, Sudan, Nigeria, Lebanon and other countries.
Ukraine is one of the largest exporters of wheat but flows have been affected by Russia's invasion in February 2022 and a subsequent blockade of its Black Sea ports.
According to Ukraine's agriculture ministry, grain production in 2024 is expected to drop to 52.4 million tonnes, from 60 million tonnes in 2023.
Kyiv has been making diplomatic efforts to try to change perceptions of the war in Jordan and other Arab countries.
These countries have largely refrained from criticising Russia but most voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution that condemned the invasion and demanded an immediate Russian withdrawal.
Russia and Iran, which has been a main ally of Moscow in the Ukraine war, project a tough pro-Palestinian stance.
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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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Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
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- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
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- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
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