Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi is a writer and researcher, and the founder of Barjeel Art Foundation
February 09, 2024
Over the past few months, much has been said about the relationship between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, some of it strikingly shallow and misinformed, with recent op-eds characterising it as a “rivalry” or a “rift”, and one going as far as calling it a “theatre of confrontation” as though their relations are a zero-sum game. Such alarmism led me to wonder if we were even discussing the same two countries.
That said, is there competition and differences of opinion and approach on some issues between the two Gulf powers? There certainly is. Competition, in fact, is one of the secret recipes of the UAE’s very own success. One emirate’s liberalisations of investment policies encourage the others to do the same. Today, the UAE itself has more than one leading airport, and airline, more than one leading ports operator and more than one financial hub. Can’t this be the case with Saudi Arabia, too? Furthermore, disagreements arise even among family businesses of the same generation (including my own family’s), which is where the ideas of conflict management and conflict resolutions are best utilised.
Last month, I had the opportunity to travel between Saudi Arabia and the UAE to co-teach a course titled “Leadership and Social Transformation” with Harvard professor Tarek Masoud, director of the Kennedy School’s Middle East Initiative. Over 10 packed days, we had the opportunity to meet with more than 30 senior leaders in both countries, in fields as varied as foreign policy, economics, culture and sport, and not a single one of them spoke even with the slightest hint of reservation about the growth of the other country.
In fact, on our first day at the Arab Strategy Forum, a panel discussion involving two senior leaders set the tone for the entire visit. The moderator of the session asked: “What we see on social media is [are references] to a tug of war between both sides [UAE and Saudi]. What is the story?”
The Neom stand the Arabian Travel Market. Antonie Robertson / The National
One emirate’s liberalisations of investment policies encourage the others to do the same
Prince Turki Al Faisal, a former Saudi ambassador and head of intelligence, turned to Dr Anwar Gargash, Diplomatic Adviser to the UAE President, and asked in a friendly way, “Is there anything between us?” to the audience’s laughter and applause. Dr Gargash himself replied: “Everything that is happening in Saudi Arabia is positive for the UAE and everything that is happening in the UAE is positive for Saudi Arabia.”
A few days later, a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos moderated by The National’s editor-in-chief, Mina Al-Oraibi, and composed of officials and industry leaders from across the Gulf, agreed that these states “complement, rather than compete” with each other.
To explore this issue further, I turned to the Emirati political science professor Abdulkhaleq Abdulla and asked him about the Saudi Arabia Regional Headquarters Programme, which aims to attract foreign companies to set up their regional bases in the kingdom. “Even if 10 per cent of the firms end up relocating to Saudi Arabia,” Dr Abdulla told me, “the rate at which Dubai attracts firms means this 10 per cent will be replenished within a short time.”
In fact, the social and economic liberalisation that Saudi Arabia is undergoing in recent years, partly to encourage initiatives such as the Regional Headquarters Programme, will only benefit the kingdom and the wider region, not least the UAE. Let’s go back in history to see the bigger picture.
Following the devastation of the Second World War, Jean Monnet, then commissioner general of the French National Planning Board, proposed what later became known as the “Monnet Plan”, which ultimately led to greater economic co-ordination between France and Germany and, eventually, to the EU. Although Mr Monnet was French and despite the fact that both states had just fought each other in a war, he considered German economic prosperity and closer economic ties between France and Germany as essential.
Similarly, and in the Gulf region itself, as documented in the 2021 book Building Sharjah, co-edited by Todd Reisz and I, in 1951 the state of Kuwait started a programme dedicated to the Trucial Coast emirates, in which it paid for doctors and teachers (including my own mother) to care for and educate the people of what later became the UAE.
President Sheikh Mohamed, Bahrain's King Hamad, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, Oman's Deputy Prime Minister Sayyed Fahd bin Mahmoud, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Salem Abdullah Al Sabah and Jasem Mohamed Al Budaiwi, Secretary General of the GCC at the summit in Doha. Abdulla Al Neyadi / Presidential Court
Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the President, speaks to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, at the 44th GCC Summit in Qatar. Abdulla Al Neyadi / Presidential Court
Sheikh Mohamed with King Hamad of Bahrain and Crown Prince Mohamed. Abdulla Al Neyadi / Presidential Court
Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed, UAE National Security Adviser and Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi, speaks to Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy. Abdulla Al Neyadi / Presidential Court
President Sheikh Mohamed is received by Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim in Doha. Mohamed Al Hammadi / Presidential Court
Recent Gulf diplomacy has focused on securing a quick end to Israel's war in Gaza and a return to a multilateral peace process. Mohamed Al Hammadi / Presidential Court
Sheikh Mohamed is leading the UAE delegation, which includes Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed, National Security Adviser and Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi, and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Mohamed Al Hammadi / Presidential Court
Sheikh Mansour is welcomed by Sheikh Tamim upon his arrival in Doha. Mohamed Al Hammadi / Presidential Court
Sheikh Abdullah with GCC secretary general Jasem Al Budaiwi in Doha. Mohamed Al Hammadi / UAE Presidential Court
Sheikh Abdullah, Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed, chairman of the Office of Development and Martyrs' Families Affairs at the Presidential Court, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed and Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad, private affairs adviser in the Presidential Court, attend a reception in Doha. Mohamed Al Hammadi / Presidential Court
Sheikh Tahnoun is received by Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad upon his arrival in Doha. Mohamed Al Hammadi / Presidential Court
Other topics on the agenda of the GCC meeting include the Gulf railway project. Mohamed Al Hammadi / Presidential Court
GCC leaders are also expected to discuss tourist visa strategies for the period 2023 to 2030. Mohamed Al Hammadi / Presidential Court
Sheikh Tamim urged the UN Security Council to press Israel to return to the negotiating table. Mohamed Al Hammadi / UAE Presidential Court
Dr Khalid Al Attiyah, Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs, and Sheikh Jasem bin Hamad attend a reception for Sheikh Mohamed before the start of the GCC meeting. Mohamed Al Hammadi / Presidential Court
In a landmark speech in 1997, Mahathir Mohamad, then prime minister of Malaysia, coined the term “prosper-thy-neighbour”. The concept Dr Mahathir went on to explain basically means “if you help your neighbour to prosper, you will prosper along with it”. That stands in stark contrast to the infamous mercantilist economic concept of “beggar-thy-neighbour”, in which countries pursue self-interested economic policies even if they impoverish their neighbours. Countries that follow the “prosper-thy-neighbour” doctrine understand that their own long-term economic growth largely depends on being in a prosperous neighbourhood.
In The Bottom Billion, economist Paul Collier writes that one of the reasons that countries fail is having “bad neighbours” (especially if the country is landlocked). Improving one’s neighbourhood thus becomes key to one’s own prosperity. Even today, Norway, a Scandinavian oil-rich country that is not itself an EU member, supports the “European Neighbourhood Policy”, which aims to “promote economic, political and social development to the south and east of the EU’s borders”. Norway is one of the leading contributors to the European Economic Area Agreement, and through Norway Grants, has supported countries in Eastern Europe that later became members of the EU. Norway, being a major trader with the EU, understands that the more prosperous its European neighbourhood is, the more prosperous and safer its own people will be.
In recent years, economic integration between the Gulf states has only intensified with talk of a joint Gulf tourism visa, the $1.6 trillion GCC electricity interconnection grid and a GCC-wide rail network being but a few examples of this gathering pace that, in some cases such as the electrical grid, is also being opened to non-Gulf states such as Iraq, Jordan and Egypt.
Today, the Arab world is a region of 400 million people that will, according to the UN, need 33 million more jobs by 2030. Competition among Arab states to reform and invest in education and infrastructure as well as attract talent and foreign investment is essential. What is happening between Saudi Arabia and the UAE is not a zero-sum game, but a positive-sum game in which we can all be winners.
Race card
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 (PA) US$100,000 (Dirt) 2,000m
6.30pm: Shahm, 7.05pm: Well Of Wisdom, 7.40pm: Lucius Tiberius, 8.15pm: Captain Von Trapp, 8.50pm: Secret Advisor, 9.25pm: George Villiers, 10pm: American Graffiti, 10.35pm: On The Warpath
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,200m
Winner: Ferdous, Szczepan Mazur (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)
5.30pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-3 Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 2,400m
Winner: Basmah, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6pm: UAE Arabian Derby Prestige (PA) Dh150,000 2,200m
Winner: Ihtesham, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6.30pm: Emirates Championship Group 1 (PA) Dh1,000,000 2,200m
Winner: Somoud, Patrick Cosgrave, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
7pm: Abu Dhabi Championship Group 3 (TB) Dh380,000 2,200m
Winner: GM Hopkins, Patrick Cosgrave, Jaber Ramadhan
7.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Conditions (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
Winner: AF Al Bairaq, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
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.”
Public Service
Anchorage Daily News in collaboration with ProPublica
Breaking News Reporting
Staff of The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.
Investigative Reporting
Brian M. Rosenthal of The New York Times
Explanatory Reporting
Staff of The Washington Post
Local Reporting
Staff of The Baltimore Sun
National Reporting
T. Christian Miller, Megan Rose and Robert Faturechi of ProPublica
and
Dominic Gates, Steve Miletich, Mike Baker and Lewis Kamb of The Seattle Times
International Reporting
Staff of The New York Times
Feature Writing
Ben Taub of The New Yorker
Commentary
Nikole Hannah-Jones of The New York Times
Criticism
Christopher Knight of the Los Angeles Times
Editorial Writing
Jeffery Gerritt of the Palestine (Tx.) Herald-Press
Editorial Cartooning
Barry Blitt, contributor, The New Yorker
Breaking News Photography
Photography Staff of Reuters
Feature Photography
Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin of the Associated Press
Audio Reporting
Staff of This American Life with Molly O’Toole of the Los Angeles Times and Emily Green, freelancer, Vice News for “The Out Crowd”
LETTERS AND DRAMA
Fiction
"The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)
Drama
"A Strange Loop" by Michael R. Jackson
History
"Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America" by W. Caleb McDaniel (Oxford University Press)
Biography
"Sontag: Her Life and Work" by Benjamin Moser (Ecco/HarperCollins)
Poetry
"The Tradition" by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
General Nonfiction
"The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care" by Anne Boyer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
and
"The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America" by Greg Grandin (Metropolitan Books)
Music
"The Central Park Five" by Anthony Davis, premiered by Long Beach Opera on June 15, 2019
By committing to at least one of these daily, you can bring more gratitude into your life, says Ong.
During your morning skincare routine, name five things you are thankful for about yourself.
As you finish your skincare routine, look yourself in the eye and speak an affirmation, such as: “I am grateful for every part of me, including my ability to take care of my skin.”
In the evening, take some deep breaths, notice how your skin feels, and listen for what your skin is grateful for.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany - At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people - Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed - Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest - He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Thursday (All UAE kick-off times)
Sevilla v Real Betis (midnight)
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum
Our House, Louise Candlish,
Simon & Schuster
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
