Insight and opinion from The National’s editorial leadership
September 10, 2024
The UN General Assembly Hall’s rostrum often doubles as a stage for theatrics. At the opening of UNGA’s 67th session, in 2012, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood in front of fellow world leaders with a doodle of a bomb, meant to illustrate Iran’s nuclear programme. A few years earlier, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi delivered a one-hour-40-minute diatribe on matters ranging from the Iraq war to swine flu to the assassination of John F Kennedy.
UNGA presidents, who serve a one-year term, have the task of getting past these histrionics to focus efforts on larger, more consequential issues – like war, poverty and climate change. It’s a tough job. Two gavels have been broken by presidents trying to keep order – the most recent incident was last year.
On Tuesday the UNGA convenes for its 79th session, at a time when crises seem to be proliferating along with their consequences. The war in Gaza has dragged on for 11 months, having killed almost 41,000 Palestinians. The war in Sudan is in its second year, the war in Ukraine in its third and the war in Syria is more than a decade old. In none of these examples are peace talks progressing. All told, this year has seen six major armed conflicts, in which at least 10,000 people have been killed since the start of the year, spread across four continents.
Other crises are more pernicious. The developing world, the UN says, currently faces the worst medium-term economic outlook in a generation. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals, one of the UNGA’s signature initiatives, are in bad shape. Only 17 per cent of the SDGs’ 169 targets are on track to be achieved by the end of this decade; more than a third of them have either stalled or regressed.
Only 17 per cent of SDG targets are on track to be achieved
Considering all of this, those convening inNew York this week for the new UNGA session should be under enormous pressure. But unlike its leaner, superpower-heavy counterpart the UN Security Council, the UNGA’s resolutions are not legally binding. And with 193 members, each with an equal vote, the UNGA is not agile.
In an essay for The National over the weekend, outgoing UNGA President Dennis Francis wrote that the multilateral system “has often been found wanting, unable to proactively respond with the speed, decisiveness and unity that the times demand”.
Big-tent forums can make decisions quickly if their participants embrace a sense of urgency. Climate summits provide an example – Cop28 in Dubai convened all UNGA member states and a handful of others, and resulted in the concrete, groundbreaking UAE Consensus covering several highly contentious climate change issues.
But maintaining a unity of values in the longer term is a bigger problem in global governance. Ostensibly universal principles are fading as superpower rivalries grow. At an economic conference in Italy this week, Jordan’s Queen Rania called for a return to the principles enshrined in the UN Charter as she highlighted western double standards over the plight of Palestinians compared with Ukrainians.
In the end, if values are ever to become universal again, the UN General Assembly remains the best venue we have for such a realignment; it is where global consensus and new international norms are forged. In many cases, these norms eventually form the basis for new (and binding) areas of international law. Whatever antics ensue from time to time, that process is not mere theatre.
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make
When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.
“You get growth upon growth upon growth, followed by more growth. The earlier you start the process, the more it will all roll up,” says Chris Davies, chartered financial planner at The Fry Group in Dubai.
This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).
Age
$250 a month
$500 a month
$1,000 a month
25
$640,829
$1,281,657
$2,563,315
35
$303,219
$606,439
$1,212,877
45
$131,596
$263,191
$526,382
55
$44,351
$88,702
$177,403
if you go
The flights
Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes.
When to visit
March-May and September-November
Visas
Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.
Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13
Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier
Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife
What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents.
Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.
Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
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
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.”
