A Syrian rebel inspects Captagon pills produced at a makeshift laboratory near Damascus. AFP
A Syrian rebel inspects Captagon pills produced at a makeshift laboratory near Damascus. AFP
A Syrian rebel inspects Captagon pills produced at a makeshift laboratory near Damascus. AFP
A Syrian rebel inspects Captagon pills produced at a makeshift laboratory near Damascus. AFP

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MENA

Jordan seeks drug-free border with Syria, FM says during Damascus visit

Syria's production of Captagon has all but come to a halt since the ousting of the regime

The National

December 23, 2024

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Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said in Damascus on Monday that his country wants to see the border with Syria free from drug smuggling.

The Jordanian official was in the Syrian capital to meet Syria's de facto leader Ahmad Al Shara. He is the highest-ranking Arab official to visit the neighbouring country since the overthrow of the former regime two weeks ago.

The cross-border flow of drugs has been a prominent national security threat in the Middle East. Captagon worth billions of dollars has crossed from Syria into other Arab countries through Jordan every year since 2018. In 2021, the Syrian regime is estimated to have made more than $5 billion from the sale of Captagon.

But Syria's production of the drug has all but come to a halt since the ousting of Bashar Al Assad's regime, a Jordanian and a European official told The National. “We want that border to be stable, freed from terrorist organisations, free from drug smuggling, weapons smuggling,” Mr Safadi said in Damascus. “The challenge remains as the attempts to smuggle continue,” he added.

Cartels linked to the Fourth Armoured Division of the Syrian army and Iranian-backed auxiliaries have enabled its spread. It was a major source of income for the ruling elite in Damascus, and for Hezbollah and other non-state supporters of the regime, according to regional security officials.

The flow of drugs was one of the main reasons Arab countries ended hostilities with Bashar Al Assad three years ago and normalised ties with his government, seeking co-operation in combating the smuggling operation.

Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, which led the rebel advance that deposed Mr Al Assad, has established military control over the main border crossings with Jordan and Lebanon as it consolidates control in Syria. On the issue of the Israeli invasion of Syria, the Jordanian official said Israel's actions were an "encroachment of Syrian sovereignty", and that it "should withdraw" from recently occupied Syrian territories.

 

 

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Teams:
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan

Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
When December 14-17

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.”

Updated: December 23, 2024, 1:56 PM
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