The UAE public holidays to look out for in the rest of 2025

Ramadan will begin in the UAE on Saturday, authorities have announced.

The Moon-sighting committee met in Al Hosn, Abu Dhabi, after maghrib (sunset) prayers on Friday and announced that they had sighted the new crescent moon. It follows a decision from Saudi Arabia that Ramadan would commence on Saturday after its committee sighted the crescent moon there.

The prediction means that the start date of Eid Al Fitr, the festival marking the end of Ramadan for millions of Muslims, is now coming into clearer view.

Since Ramadan begins on March 1, the final day of the holy month will either be on March 29 or 30, given that each month in the Islamic calendar must last either 29 or 30 days.

The colourful Eid Al Fitr festival - a celebratory occasion marked by morning prayers, family get-togethers, the giving of gifts, as well as charitable donations, will therefore begin on either March 30 or 31.

Both government and private sector workers are granted a public holiday in honour of the occasion, typically lasting three days.

The UAE government set out the public holiday calendar for 2025 last year, which indicated that the Eid public holiday would begin on the first day of the festival.

This is not always the case, with last year's Eid Al Fitr holiday commencing on the 29th day of Ramadan.

When are the public holidays in the UAE?

UAE workers have a number of other public holidays to look forward to in the months ahead, with Eid Al Adha also to be determined by the lunar cycle.

Arafat Day is expected to fall on Friday, May 30, which would mean Eid Al Adha would be observed from Saturday, May 31, to Wednesday, June 2.

Islamic New Year is expected to fall on Friday, June 27, while the Prophet Mohammed's birthday is expected to be marked on Monday, September 1.

Meanwhile, Commemoration Day is set for Monday, December 1, while the public holidays for National Day will likely fall on Tuesday, December 2, and Wednesday, December 3.

Eid Al Fitr fireworks - in pictures

Eid fireworks light up the sky on the Corniche in Abu Dhabi. All photos: Victor Besa / The National

Eid fireworks light up the sky on the Corniche in Abu Dhabi

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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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Who was Alfred Nobel?

The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.

In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.

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