Live updates: Follow the latest from Israel-Gaza
The UAE is sending a ship to Gaza carrying aid including food, medicines, shelter materials, and essentials for women and children.
The ship left Fujairah Port on Saturday with provisions desperately need by Palestinians affected by the Israel-Gaza war.
More than 4,500 tonnes of goods, including mattresses, tents and food collected by UAE charitable groups will be delivered to help Palestinians prepare for Ramadan, the holiest month of the Islamic calendar.
Flying the UAE flag, the vessel will arrive in about 15 days at Egypt’s Al Arish port, where the aid will then be transported by lorries to the Rafah border with Gaza.
Support people of Gaza
About 154 tonnes of material for building temporary shelters and 87 tonnes of medical aid were stacked high inside the ship’s hold on Saturday.
Rashid Mubarak Al Mansouri, secretary general of the Emirates Red Crescent Authority, spoke to The National as he oversaw the operation in Fujairah.
“There are more than 2,000 tents, medical aid and food – this is in preparation for Ramadan,” he said.
“We are here to help the people of Gaza during this time.
“This is support for the old and young people and Gaza society because of what they are going through.”
More than 27,000 Palestinians have been killed and 65,000 wounded since Israel launched strikes on the enclave on October 7.
This came after Hamas militants attacked Israeli communities killing about 1,200 people and abducting 240.
The UN has said it is becoming impossible to meet the needs for food and shelter of tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians packed into southern Gaza to flee the Israeli bombardment.
Plan for more supplies
The ship that left Fujairah on Saturday is the second to depart from the Emirates in the past two months as part of the UAE's Gallant Knight 3 operation to support the Palestinian people.
Mr Al Mansouri said the UAE was committed to assisting the Palestinian people.
“There are blankets, food and necessities for children and ladies,” he said.
“We will send more for Ramadan. We plan to send more ships. When the ship reaches Arish, the material will move in trucks by land to Rafah.”
The latest aid was provided by the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation for Humanitarian Works, the Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation and the UAE Red Crescent Authority.
Winter aid being distributed to Gazan's by the Emirates Red Crescent - in pictures
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
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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Guide to intelligent investing
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- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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