DUBAI // Moments before the start of this weekend's 32nd Dubai International Rally, one driver received an unexpected incentive.
Nasser al Attiyah learned that his home country of Qatar had won its bid to host the Fifa 2022 football World Cup.
He said he was determined to mark the news with victory in a tournament that organisers hope will spur interest in motorsport as well as raise publicity for charities.
Today, 27 drivers from 12 Middle Eastern countries compete in the final round of the 2010 FIA Middle East Rally Championship, which ends tomorrow.
The event is organised by the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE, whose president, Mohammed ben Sulayem, aims to bring motorsport closer to the community.
The ceremonial start kicked off at Downtown Dubai last night with the cars promoting the Dubai Autism Centre and the UAE Down Syndrome Association.
"It is important that motorsport in the modern era branches out and delivers much more than competitive events," said Mr Sulayem, who is also the vice president of the FIA, motorsport's world governing body. "In our role as the national motorsport authority and rally organisers, we have to move with the times, recognise our responsibility to consider and embrace the local community when we stage events, and play our part in helping to improve the lives of those less fortunate."
Hundreds of spectators waited to catch a glimpse of the drivers as they left the Souk Al Bahar car park.
The honour of being first away went to the only lady driver in the rally, Jordan's Ahed Eid, who is partnered by Feras Allowh in a Group N Mitsubishi Evo 9. Just before she got into her vehicle, the 19-year-old driver said that racing was her biggest joy.
"This is my second year in the championship and I have loved this sport since I was much younger," said Ahed, who was also the youngest driver. "The fact I am a woman has not even been a challenge, I have received much support."
Al Attiyah followed in a Super 2000 Ford Fiesta alongside his Italian co-driver, Giovanni Bernacchini. Although the Qatari driver was determined to win, he has to face off serious local competition.
"I'm not here just to participate or settle for a place on the podium," said Sheikh Khalid al Qassimi, the Team Abu Dhabi driver. "I want to win my home event on National Day weekend, not just for myself, but for all the people of the UAE."
Khalifa al Muhairi represented Dubai along with his co-driver, Ali Mirza. The rally was the first time al Muhairi has raced after a break of almost 15 years.
"This is my dream," he said. "The reason I stopped for so long is due to lack of sponsorship, this is a very expensive sport, but I am hopeful for 2011."
Where to rally round
Today’s Leg 1 can be followed in the Malaiha and Shawka area and can be located from the Sharjah-Kalba Road.
Stages on tomorrow’s Leg 2 are in the Al Dhaid area and can be located from the Sharjah-Kalba Road or the Al Dhaid Road. The rally finishes at Dubai’s Old Town Island around 4.30pm tomorrow.
melshoush@thenational.ae
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Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
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.”
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
RESULT
Al Hilal 4 Persepolis 0
Khribin (31', 54', 89'), Al Shahrani 40'
Red card: Otayf (Al Hilal, 49')
