President Sheikh Mohamed said he looks 'forward to continuing to work together' with India's Narendra Modi. UAE Presidential Court / Reuters
President Sheikh Mohamed said he looks 'forward to continuing to work together' with India's Narendra Modi. UAE Presidential Court / Reuters
President Sheikh Mohamed said he looks 'forward to continuing to work together' with India's Narendra Modi. UAE Presidential Court / Reuters
President Sheikh Mohamed said he looks 'forward to continuing to work together' with India's Narendra Modi. UAE Presidential Court / Reuters

President Sheikh Mohamed congratulates Narendra Modi on Indian election result


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President Sheikh Mohamed on Wednesday congratulated Narendra Modi on the result of the Indian elections.

While the Indian Prime Minister’s Bharatiya Janata Party fell short of a simple majority, the nationalists are still comfortably the largest party in the country's parliament and Mr Modi is expected to form a coalition government in the coming days.

“I congratulate my friend Narendra Modi on his victory in the recent elections, wishing him success in leading India towards further progress and development,” Sheikh Mohamed wrote on X.

“I look forward to continuing to work together during the coming period to enhance strategic UAE-Indian relations and achieve our common development goals for the benefit of our two peoples.”

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, also sent his best wishes to Mr Modi.

“Congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his historic re-election for a third term,” he wrote on X.

“We trust that India, under his leadership, will maintain its economic progress and continue to build on his remarkable achievements of the past decade. We look forward to further strengthening our bilateral relations across all areas of co-operation for mutual benefit and prosperity.”

Final results were published early on Wednesday, with Mr Modi’s party winning 240 seats – 32 off the number needed to begin to form a government.

The main opposition Indian National Congress won 99 seats in the 543-member parliament.

Mr Modi’s BJP will be relying on National Democratic Alliance partners to form the next government, with the bloc winning 294 seats.

Mr Modi visited the UAE in February and inaugurated the landmark Baps Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi.

While in January, Sheikh Mohamed visited India and met Mr Modi while attending the Vibrant Gujarat business summit.

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Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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2012-2015

The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East

May 2017

The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts

September 2021

Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act

October 2021

Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence 

December 2024

Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group

May 2025

The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan

July 2025

The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan

August 2025

Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision

October 2025

Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange

November 2025

180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE

Jetour T1 specs

Engine: 2-litre turbocharged

Power: 254hp

Torque: 390Nm

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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.”

The biog

Date of birth: 27 May, 1995

Place of birth: Dubai, UAE

Status: Single

School: Al Ittihad private school in Al Mamzar

University: University of Sharjah

Degree: Renewable and Sustainable Energy

Hobby: I enjoy travelling a lot, not just for fun, but I like to cross things off my bucket list and the map and do something there like a 'green project'.

Updated: June 06, 2024, 8:16 AM