It was July 1969 when Sheikh Zayed, the Founding Father, first visited London in his official capacity as Ruler of Abu Dhabi.
On his mind were two pressing issues. Fears that communist agents backed by the Soviet Union were seeking to destabilise the Gulf region and how best to fast-track negotiations for creating a new nation from the seven Emirates.
In London, though, there were other concerns. Was it “Zaid” or “Zayed”. Should the invitations read “Al Nihyan”or “Al Nayyahan”. Indeed, was it “Sheikh” or “Shaikh”?
“These differences in spelling in a sense epitomise the diversity which gives the Arab world so much of its charm,” was the judgement of the British Cabinet Office to Lt Colonel, the Lord Burnham, who had raised the issue in the first place.
There is no such confusion when senior UAE officials visit London these days.
Protocol aside, the long connection between the two countries has only matured and strengthened in what is now almost half a century.
A long history of friendship
December 2, 1971 saw the newly created United Arab Emirates redefine its relationship with Britain with a Treaty of Friendship and the joint aim of “strengthening the bonds of friendship between the two countries on the basis of mutual respect for sovereignty and mutual interest.”
In many ways, it is London that has learned to respect Abu Dhabi. In the century before 1971, the emirates were considered a protectorate rather than a colony of the British Empire, but far from independent as a sovereign state.
It was best defined by Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, who visited the Arabian Gulf in 1903 accompanied by a small fleet of British warships.
Moored off the coast of Sharjah, he summoned the Rulers of the Emirates to the deck of HMS Argonaut for a lecture under its guns on the dangers of listening to rival European states who were attempting to gain a foothold in the region.
While they might be far away from civilisation, His Lordship told them, they should “adhere to the policy of guardianship and protection which has given you peace and guaranteed your rights for the best part of a century”.
A long-overdue diplomatic reset came with the discovery of oil in the 1950s, and the realisation that the Gulf was now a strategic energy source for the West and post-Imperial Britain.
The Rulers of the Gulf states were now to be courted rather than cajoled. The summer of 1961 saw Sheikh Shakhbut make the first official visit of a Ruler of Abu Dhabi to the United Kingdom, including a private audience with Queen Elizabeth.
There was some alarm in London when it was realised Sheikh Shakhbut would be presenting Her Majesty with a gift of two strings of Arabian Gulf pearls.
An official from the Arabian Department of the Foreign Office was immediately dispatched to Garrard & Co, the royal jewellers, to buy a present for the Ruler of three silver dishes, busting the government budget of £150 (around Dh5,000 today) by another £50.
With the Ruler’s party accommodated at the exclusive Grosvenor House Hotel, receptions at the Savoy and Dorchester were arranged, with a hastily assembled guest list that included the well-known character actor James Robertson Justice after it was discovered he was also a keen falconer.
Meetings with members of the government were also held, including the UK foreign secretary, Lord Home, who presented the Ruler with photograph of himself in a silver frame.
Beyond the diplomatic pleasantries, though, there was little strategic thinking about Britain’s long term relationship with their guest, beyond the hope that Abu Dhabi would look favourably on British companies when spending its growing wealth.
A commanding presence
The confusion over the English-language spelling of his name aside, the first official visit of Sheikh Zayed as Ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1969 took place at a much higher level, with discussions about the future of what was then provisionally called the Union of Arab Emirates and a lunch with Queen Elizabeth - their first meeting.
Sheikh Zayed was also invited to the ceremony of the Trooping of the Colour, cutting a striking figure for photographers in his bisht cloak. “He has a commanding presence, which is tempered by a friendly and informal approach” noted the briefing notes on Sheikh Zayed drawn up by British government officials.
Talks were also held with the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, of the Labour Party, and included the formation of a union army with British support for the new union.
Two years later, Sheikh Zayed was no longer the Ruler of a British protectorate but the President of a sovereign state with a seat at the United Nations.
The relationship had changed irrevocably. The UAE was now a valuable trading partner and an ally with many common interests in an unstable world.
The old ties were gone, but not forgotten. Sheikh Zayed would return to the UK for a full state visit in 1989, as did his son, President Sheikh Khalifa in 2013.
The monarch and Sheikh Khalifa had already met during her state visit to the UAE in 2010, one of a handful of countries the Queen has visited twice, with her first trip at the invitation of Sheikh Zayed in 1979.
Members of the British royal family are regular visitors to the UAE, with one of the most notable trips taking place in 1989, when Prince Charles and the late Diana, Princess of Wales spent several days in the Emirates.
Nearly 50 years after the formation of the UAE, ministers from both countries regularly travel for meetings. Britain may be now just one of many to enjoy good relations with the UAE, but is the only nation bonded by such a long and shared story.
As Sheikh Mohamed arrives in London, the expectations surrounding his visit might be best expressed by a telegram sent by Sheikh Zayed to the British foreign secretary, Michael Stewart, from the Ruler’s departing flight in 1969.
“We wish to thank you for the kind invitation and the friendship we have always valued, and assure you our close friendship will prosper, as it has done over the past centuries.”
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
MATCH INFO
Who: UAE v USA
What: first T20 international
When: Friday, 2pm
Where: ICC Academy in Dubai
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
%3Cp%3EFirst%20ODI%20-%20Sunday%2C%20June%204%20%0D%3Cbr%3ESecond%20ODI%20-%20Tuesday%2C%20June%206%20%0D%3Cbr%3EThird%20ODI%20-%20Friday%2C%20June%209%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMatches%20at%20Sharjah%20Cricket%20Stadium.%20All%20games%20start%20at%204.30pm%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMuhammad%20Waseem%20(captain)%2C%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20Adithya%20Shetty%2C%20Ali%20Naseer%2C%20Ansh%20Tandon%2C%20Aryansh%20Sharma%2C%20Asif%20Khan%2C%20Basil%20Hameed%2C%20Ethan%20D%E2%80%99Souza%2C%20Fahad%20Nawaz%2C%20Jonathan%20Figy%2C%20Junaid%20Siddique%2C%20Karthik%20Meiyappan%2C%20Lovepreet%20Singh%2C%20Matiullah%2C%20Mohammed%20Faraazuddin%2C%20Muhammad%20Jawadullah%2C%20Rameez%20Shahzad%2C%20Rohan%20Mustafa%2C%20Sanchit%20Sharma%2C%20Vriitya%20Aravind%2C%20Zahoor%20Khan%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE%20SPECS
%3Cp%3EEngine%3A%203-litre%20V6%20turbo%20(standard%20model%2C%20E-hybrid)%3B%204-litre%20V8%20biturbo%20(S)%0D%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20350hp%20(standard)%3B%20463hp%20(E-hybrid)%3B%20467hp%20(S)%0D%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20500Nm%20(standard)%3B%20650Nm%20(E-hybrid)%3B%20600Nm%20(S)%0D%0D%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh368%2C500%0D%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Simran
Director Hansal Mehta
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey
Three stars
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- Margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars
- Energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- Infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes
- Many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts
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
