Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, will make an official visit to Kazakhstan on Sunday. Photo: UAE Presidential Court
Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, will make an official visit to Kazakhstan on Sunday. Photo: UAE Presidential Court

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UAE

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince to begin official visit to Kazakhstan on Sunday

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed will hold talks aimed at bolstering relations during trip

The National

May 08, 2025

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, will begin an official visit to Kazakhstan on Sunday aimed at furthering bilateral ties.

Sheikh Khaled will travel to the Central Asian country on the invitation of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, state news agency Wam reported on Thursday.

He is due to hold talks with the country's leadership centred on efforts at strengthening partnerships in key sectors and supporting economic development.

In November, Abu Dhabi's clean energy company Masdar signed a power purchase agreement with Kazakhstan for a one-gigawatt wind farm as part of a broader renewable energy push.

In January last year, the UAE and Kazakhstan signed a preliminary agreement to explore investment opportunities in data centres and artificial intelligence.

The partnership between the UAE Ministry of Investment, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry and the $70 billion sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna aimed to create a framework for co-operation, the UAE ministry said at the time.

Sheikh Khaled has undertaken a series of high-profile overseas engagements since being named Crown Prince in March 2023.

He represented the UAE at the funeral of Pope Francis last month, joining hundreds of foreign dignitaries and world leaders as at least 50,000 people gathered in St Peter’s Square, with another 200,000 estimated in the surrounding area.

He held talks in November with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the G20 summit in Brazil.

Sheikh Khaled travelled to India for an official visit in September, during which he met the country's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

UK's plans to cut net migration

Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.

Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.

But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.

Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.

Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.

The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.

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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Updated: May 08, 2025, 3:06 PM