Passengers in the waiting area prior to their flight departures at the Zaventem international airport in Brussels, June 15. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began in March. AP
Passengers in the waiting area prior to their flight departures at the Zaventem international airport in Brussels, June 15. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began in March. AP
Passengers in the waiting area prior to their flight departures at the Zaventem international airport in Brussels, June 15. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus
While there is neither vaccine nor cure for Covid-19, international travel is tentatively resuming in a strange new world of bubbles large and small, air bridges, green lanes, negotiated corridors and colour-coded zones.
The cartographical features of the new travel order are not yet set but it is safe to say they will be unique. The world – before the Cold War and after – has not seen the likes of such a reordering where borders will now be epidemiological.
Sometimes, they may even fall within countries. Rich and powerful nations that previously enjoyed easy access to much of the planet will now face limits. The pandemic is not just changing how we travel, but where, when and if at all.
The most distinctive feature of this remade world map is the changed definition of security blocs. For the moment, they are not military, nor determined by foreign policy doctrine so much as coronavirus infection rates. Jurisdictions that have managed to control the virus, at least for now, want to link up to create safe zones for the reopening of tourism and business travel.
On Monday, the European Commission urged European Union member states to lift internal border controls and quarantine obligations. It cited “a continuous positive trend… with regard to the epidemiological situation” and suggested it was time to restore borderless travel, that cornerstone of European integration. Except for Spain, which is holding out until June 21, most EU countries have largely heeded the advice. Mainland Europe has thereby become one of the largest travel bubbles in the post-pandemic world.
A woman and her dog arrive from Amsterdam at the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport in Athens, June 15. Greece is officially open to tourists. Thanassis Stavrakis / AP
It is a policy that was pioneered by Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. In mid-May, the Baltic bloc became the first in Europe to establish a bespoke bubble that allowed free movement for citizens of all three countries. This was followed barely a fortnight later by Hungary and Slovenia, which huddled in together in their low-infection zone. This week, China and Singapore enter a bubble that permits limited travel without quarantine between the island city-state and six Chinese cities.
Singapore is also talking of multiple green lanes to be bilaterally negotiated with Australia, South Korea, New Zealand and Malaysia. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations plans to discuss other possible regional bubbles on June 26. Talks on a trans-Tasman bubble are proceeding apace between Australia and New Zealand, with smaller Pacific island nations such as Fiji and Vanuatu seeking to join.
Meanwhile Britain, which has a high virus infection rate but somewhat surprisingly introduced a 14-day quarantine for all international arrivals on June 8, is contemplating air bridges. Portugal, Turkey and Greece have expressed interest in transport corridors that would allow millions of British tourists to continue their usual practice of spending the lazy days of summer at Mediterranean resorts.
A substantial number of countries across the globe will not be able to enjoy the sights and sounds of life in America
The US is a noteworthy exception in the multiple discussions underway around the world about bubbles and bridges. This is hardly surprising. The US has crossed the two million mark for confirmed coronavirus cases even as infection rates surge in several states in the west and the deep south.
With nearly a thousand people still dying every day in the US and a question mark over its policy failures on testing and tracing, it is hard to discern much enthusiasm for customised travel links between America and other parts of the world.
European destinations are, for the most part, off-limits to Americans. This is partly because of the principle of reciprocal treatment. The US banned travel from the EU on March 12, the day the World Health Organisation declared a global pandemic.
Accordingly, Portugal, an outlier among European countries for resuming nonstop flights between Lisbon and Newark airport in early June, only allows entry to Portuguese passport-holding visitors from the US.
In real terms though, it is epidemiological considerations that are hardening borders between the US and some other parts of the world.
An official operates a temperature screening point at Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3 in Dubai, June 10. Jon Gambrell / AP
In January, the Henley Passport Index of the world’s most travel-friendly passports showed US citizens enjoyed visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 184 countries. But now, the European Commission’s newest directive warns against lifting travel restrictions from “third countries where the situation is worse” than on the continent.
Even tourism-reliant countries such as Thailand, which counts itself as effective in dealing with the pandemic, is expressing caution about the untrammelled entry of people from coronavirus hotspots.
On June 14, America’s leading public health official Dr Anthony Fauci indicated that US restrictions on international travel could remain in place for months on end, until a vaccine is developed.
This means that a substantial part of the globe – along with the EU, Britain, Brazil and China are also banned – will not be able to enjoy the sights and sounds of life in America, conduct business meetings in Silicon Valley or Wall Street and mix with diplomats and think tanks in Washington, DC.
What is striking about the new cartography is the trust bubbles contemplated by countries across regions and political divides. ‘Corona-alliances’ remake geopolitics using very different metrics. Bilateral or multilateral, the proposed agreements for cross-border travel without quarantine measures underline a commonality.
The shared experience could be equivalent or lower risks of coronavirus community transmission, a similar commitment to testing and contact-tracing, or more simply, a competent response to the pandemic. It says something that the US, the world’s richest, most powerful country, is not part of that conversation.
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
German intelligence warnings
2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
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.”
