Record-breaking fireworks and laser shows lit up the night skies across the UAE to welcome the New Year.
Burj Khalifa in Downtown Dubai became the showstopper, as the world’s tallest tower shone brightly in a dazzling array of colours and lights on the stroke of midnight.
Hundreds of thousands braved the traffic to claim the best spot in Downtown at Dubai Mall as early as 4pm as vantage points for The Fountain and Burj Khalifa turned into a sea of people wearing glitter and glam for the occasion.
Pyrotechnic displays were set up across the emirates, including from Atlantis The Palm, La Mer, Bluewaters Island and Burj Al Arab.
As the first new year’s celebrations without any coronavirus restrictions in place, and with perfect weather playing out in favour of outdoor fun, families turned out in huge numbers to join the festivities.
Yas Island in Abu Dhabi offered dual fun for onlookers with fireworks displays at 9pm and at midnight, while Al Maryah Island and the Corniche also had fireworks at midnight.
Global Village wooed one of the biggest crowds with seven sets of fireworks coinciding with seven time zones across the world.
In Al Wathba, a 40-minute drive from Abu Dhabi, a 40-minute fireworks display and show featuring 3,000 drones broke a record in volume, duration and form.
Ras Al Khaimah hosted another record-breaking fireworks show featuring pyro drones, nano lights, colours and shapes along the 4.7km long waterfront between Al Marjan Island and Al Hamra Village.
Across the UAE, beach clubs and bars, restaurants and food chains, public parks and shopping malls were packed as people lapped up pricey as well as pocket-friendly dining and entertainment options to ring in the New Year.
Hope for a better year
From having a safe and healthy year to hopes of finding new jobs and losing weight topped some of the New Year wishes of residents.
Indian couple Vinay Jain and his wife Rupali Jain, both IT professionals in Abu Dhabi, who were at Yas Bay to ring-in the New Year, hoped for a safe and prosperous 2023.
“I want to learn Arabic this year,” said Mr Jain.
Rupali said she is aiming to lose weight in 2023. “I hope it won’t remain just a wish,” she said.
Her mother Bala Jain was visiting Abu Dhabi to celebrate the New Year with her daughter and eight-year old grandson, Ritvik.
“I want everyone to enjoy peace and happiness this year. We had a tough few years before of Covid,” said Ms Jain who lives in Delhi, India.
Joao Troncao and Marta Lourenco from Portugal moved to the UAE two weeks ago wants to make the country their home this year.
“We hardly know this place. Everything feels new here. We want to make this our home in 2023,” said Mr Troncao, who works as a creative director.
For Kartik Raina, 19, who is pursuing an economics degree at the University of Bath, celebrating the New Year with parents in Abu Dhabi was special.
“It is nice to hang out with family and friends,” he said.
“My wish for the New Year is to get an investment banking internship.”
His friend Ishaan Kumar, 17, a Grade 12 student of the Dubai International Academy, said fitness and admission to a leading college are his New Year wishes.
“2022 was a good year for me. I want to hit the gym more often. Also, I hope I will get into a good university in India.”
Turkish couple Eldeniz and Yaroslava Kurean, who have a 3-year old daughter called Sophie, wished for peace and prosperity in 2023.
“We wanted to enjoy this weather and see the fireworks. Abu Dhabi is a great place for family and we want to just say happy and healthy this year,” said Mr Kurean, an IT professional.
New year celebrations around the world - in pictures
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
The Way It Was: My Life with Frank Sinatra by Eliot Weisman and Jennifer Valoppi
Hachette Books
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Abu Dhabi World Pro 2019 remaining schedule:
Wednesday April 24: Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-6pm
Thursday April 25: Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-5pm
Friday April 26: Finals, 3-6pm
Saturday April 27: Awards ceremony, 4pm and 8pm
The years Ramadan fell in May
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
The biog
Marital status: Separated with two young daughters
Education: Master's degree from American Univeristy of Cairo
Favourite book: That Is How They Defeat Despair by Salwa Aladian
Favourite Motto: Their happiness is your happiness
Goal: For Nefsy to become his legacy long after he is gon
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
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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.”
Race%20card
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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Tickets
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
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Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
UAE v Ireland
1st ODI, UAE win by 6 wickets
2nd ODI, January 12
3rd ODI, January 14
4th ODI, January 16
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed auto
Power: 420 bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: from Dh293,200
On sale: now
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
