Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, launched a drone delivery service in the emirate on Tuesday.
Keeta Drone, a subsidiary of Chinese technology and retail company Meituan, has been awarded a licence by Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) to deliver food and medicine across Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO) during the first phase of the project. Sheikh Hamdan became the first person to make an order through the platform from the Rochester Institute of Technology-Dubai, one of the landing points within DSO’s drone delivery network.
“We continue to support projects that drive a diversified, flexible digital economy by leveraging advanced technology in Dubai and empowering the aviation and air transport sectors,” said Sheikh Hamdan, according to Dubai Government Media Office.
“Our strategy places a high priority on strengthening public-private partnerships to catalyse research and development, sustainable growth, and smart mobility. This aligns with the Dubai Economic Agenda D33, which aims to position Dubai among the world’s top three urban economies.”
The drones have a height ceiling of 100 metres and a range of 3km, with a top speed of 22 metres per second. “The future of robotic technologies and self-driving systems for retail services, and knowledge-based economic applications, innovation, digital transformation and the use of artificial intelligence have all become a reality in Dubai,” said Sheikh Hamdan.
“Today, we have reached a significant milestone with operational readiness to commence drone delivery operations. Through strong collaboration between the public and private sectors, we aim to further raise the quality of services, enhance quality of life, and accelerate economic growth.”
The plan is to eventually cover all of the emirate, Mohammed Abdulla Lengawi, director general of the DCAA, told The National. “Drone delivery will reach 33 per cent of Dubai by 2030, positioning the emirate as a pioneer in smart mobility,” he said. “We are committed to making a vital contribution to enhancing Dubai’s position as one of the cities best prepared for the future and a global hub for innovation in the aviation sector.”
The drone is known as an M-Drone Gen 3, a six-rotor vehicle with a maximum load capacity of 2.3kg. Speaking to The National at a press conference on Tuesday, Keeta Drone's president Dr Yinian Mao explained that the UAE was the perfect location for such a service.
“Dubai’s high demand for delivery services and the operational challenges posed by its extreme weather underscore the potential for drone delivery to enhance efficiency and reliability,” he said.
One of the organisations who have partnered with the project is Fakeeh University Hospital in Dubai, whose chief executive spoke about how a drone service could play a big role in the future of medical care.
“Drones provide a reliable and timely solution for critical needs such as plasma delivery, where every second counts,” said Mohaymen Abdelghany. “We look forward to scaling this initiative across more medical applications.”
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20WATCH%20SERIES%208
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OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
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.”
WISH
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The%20specs
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The specs: 2018 Genesis G70
Price, base / as tested: Dh155,000 / Dh205,000
Engine: 3.3-litre, turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 370hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 510Nm @ 1,300rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.6L / 100km
Small%20Things%20Like%20These
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