• Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Youth, speaks at International Holocaust Remembrance Day held at Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi. All photos: Khushnum Bhandari / The National
    Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Youth, speaks at International Holocaust Remembrance Day held at Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi. All photos: Khushnum Bhandari / The National
  • Nickolay Mladenov, director of the Research and Analysis Department at Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy, says the event honours and commemorates the millions of lives lost during the Second World War.
    Nickolay Mladenov, director of the Research and Analysis Department at Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy, says the event honours and commemorates the millions of lives lost during the Second World War.
  • Tad Stahnke of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum speaks during International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
    Tad Stahnke of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum speaks during International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
  • Amir Hayek, Israel's ambassador to the UAE, speaks at the event.
    Amir Hayek, Israel's ambassador to the UAE, speaks at the event.
  • A panel discussion featuring Rob Standoff, executive director of The Washington Institute (left), moderator Shamma Al Dabal (middle) and Mina Abdelmalek of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.
    A panel discussion featuring Rob Standoff, executive director of The Washington Institute (left), moderator Shamma Al Dabal (middle) and Mina Abdelmalek of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.
  • Guests at the event to observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
    Guests at the event to observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

UAE

Holocaust Remembrance Day: Abu Dhabi event honours victims of darkest period in history

First official International Holocaust Remembrance Day to be held in the Gulf took place on Thursday

The National

January 27, 2022

  • English
  • Arabic

An event to honour the victims and survivors of one of the darkest periods in history was held in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

The Gulf's first official International Holocaust Remembrance Day was hosted by the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy, in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Culture and Youth, the US embassy in Abu Dhabi and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

A short documentary, Righteous Among the Nations: Lost Stories of the Holocaust in Arab Lands, was shown during the event.

“We would like to mark this International Holocaust Remembrance Day as an occasion to pay our respects to the victims of the Holocaust, and an occasion to pledge, as an international community, to be reminded of this crime that shook all of humanity and resulted in atrocities that no peace-loving person will accept,” said Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Youth.

“The Holocaust was a crime against humanity that had far-reaching consequences and cannot be condoned.

“Humanity should stand in solidarity to prevent such crimes from taking place in the future. The onus lies on us, all the peace-loving countries and people, to commemorate the innocent lives that were lost in these horrendous events and to inform the world of the catastrophe that befell them.”

On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the UN urges every member state to honour the millions of Jews and other victims through organising educational programmes to help prevent future genocides.

“Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy is honoured to co-host this special event, to honour and commemorate the millions of lives lost during the Second World War,” said Nickolay Mladenov, the academy's director of research and analysis.

“This gathering is a reminder to recommit ourselves to the battle against genocide, extremism, hatred, intolerance and racism that unfortunately still takes place, right before our eyes.”

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6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68

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.”

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Established in 1998, the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding was created with a vision to teach residents about the traditions and customs of the UAE. Its motto is ‘open doors, open minds’. All year-round, visitors can sign up for a traditional Emirati breakfast, lunch or dinner meal, as well as a range of walking tours, including ones to sites such as the Jumeirah Mosque or Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood.

Every year during Ramadan, an iftar programme is rolled out. This allows guests to break their fast with the centre’s presenters, visit a nearby mosque and observe their guides while they pray. These events last for about two hours and are open to the public, or can be booked for a private event.

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