Asian Games venues will be ready before Indonesia hosts the showpiece event in a month, organisers say, but the threat of terror attacks and endless traffic jams still looms over the huge tournament.
An army of labourers has been toiling around the clock to finish building work, widen roads and plant trees in a breakneck bid to beautify Jakarta, a teeming metropolis that many visitors find tough to love.
The athletes' village looks ready, but some competitors may need nose pegs - it backs out onto a toxic, foul-smelling river.
Jakarta and Palembang in Sumatra are set to host about 11,000 athletes and 5,000 officials from 45 Asian countries for the August 18 to September 2 Games, the world's biggest multi-sport event behind the Olympics.
Apart from a still-unfinished squash complex, most venues appear nearly done.
The Gelora Bung Karno main stadium, used when Indonesia last hosted the Games in 1962, has undergone a major renovation for the 30 trillion rupiah (Dh7 billion) event.
"I think all the venues, from what I see ... 95 per cent should be finished by end of July," chief organiser Erick Thohir, a media tycoon who is chairman of Italian football club Inter Milan, said last week.
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Epic traffic jams
Indonesia started with less time than most host countries. It agreed to host the Games when Vietnam pulled out, citing concerns over preparations and the heavy financial burden.
Jakarta then moved the 40-sport Games forward by a year to 2018 to avoid a clash with national elections.
But organisers insist it won't be a repeat of the 2004 Athens Olympics when the main stadium was completed just weeks before the opening ceremony, or Brazil's 2014 World Cup which went ahead in unfinished venues.
The worst-case scenario remains New Delhi's 2010 Commonwealth Games, where problems ranged from filthy conditions at the athletes' village to collapsing infrastructure.
Indonesia had problems with the 2011 Southeast Asian Games following corruption scandals and a deadly stampede at the football final.
But the biggest headache at the Asian Games may be getting athletes to venues on time.
Jakarta has some of the world's worst traffic and choking air pollution that has forced organisers to come up with drastic solutions.
Athletes and officials will travel on dedicated road lanes while Jakarta has put an odd-even licence plate system in place to limit congestion.
Schools will also be closed to take the daily commute of millions of pupils out of the equation.
Security fears
Security is another concern with the Games coming just a few months after terror attacks in Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya killed a dozen people and reignited concerns about Islamist militants.
Some 100,000 security staff will be deployed in Jakarta, Palembang and West Java, where several events are taking place.
"All safety elements are already in place," said national deputy police chief Syafruddin, who goes by one name.
"We did not only think about security of the athletes, but we are also preparing safety measures for all aspects related to the Games ... of course the main priority is security."
Police say they have been rounding up terror suspects and petty street criminals in a pre-Games crackdown - and even fatally shooting some who resisted arrest.
Many Jakartans seem unaware that their city is hosting a major event though, with promotion of the Games noticeably lacking.
"What is it [the Asian Games]? I'm not too sure," said Jakarta-based entrepreneur Widi Astari.
Some who do know about the Games have complained about ticket prices, which range from about 50,000-300,000 rupiah (Dh11-77) in a country where many live on a few dollars a day.
"I think it will be great if the organiser provides tickets for the middle-lower class spectators because I think everybody wants to watch," said Ari Fajar.
About one quarter of the 40,000 tickets available for the opening ceremonies - the cheapest are 750,000 rupiah - were snapped up in first week of sale on June 30.
While the Games may not be picture perfect, Jakartan Nia is betting that her country won't embarrass itself.
"At least the outside world will know Indonesia has tried its best," she said.
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.”
Company Profile
Company name: Cargoz
Date started: January 2022
Founders: Premlal Pullisserry and Lijo Antony
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 30
Investment stage: Seed
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WHAT IS THE LICENSING PROCESS FOR VARA?
Vara will cater to three categories of companies in Dubai (except the DIFC):
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Company Profile
Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
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Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
A Long Way Home by Peter Carey
Faber & Faber
