DUBAI // A Dh1 billion library in the shape of an open book is expected to open next year.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Library in Al Jaddaf will hold more than 1.5 million volumes, 1 million audio books and 2 million e-books, making it the world’s largest electronic collection and the biggest library in the Arab world.
The project, to open at the end of next year, was announced on Monday by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, at the launch of the Year of Reading, declared for 2016 by President Sheikh Khalifa.
“We want a dynamic library that will reach you before you reach it and which encourages you to start reading from childhood while supporting you as a scientist, researcher or specialist when older,” said Sheikh Mohammed. “The library will be a compound for books, a community for readers and writers, and an association for content, culture and thinkers.”
Overlooking the Dubai Creek, it will preserve Emirati culture, promote the Arabic language, and publish new titles and a contemporary Arabic dictionary, as well as translate 25,000 titles into Arabic.
“The human mind is the centre of development and the book is the tool used to renew the mind. A nation can never grow without a renewed mind and lively, knowledgeable spirit,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
Seven storeys tall and covering 1 million square feet, it will have children’s, Arabic, international, business and media sections to make reading accessible to all.
It will include a centre for conservation and restoration of historical manuscripts, and a museum section displaying rare artefacts from the Maktoum family collection.
Plans were announced to host more than 100 cultural and intellectual events each year in its seminar and conference rooms.
In September last year Sheikh Mohammed launched the Arab Reading Challenge, which encourages 2.5 million students from 20,000 schools in the Arab world to read. The library will be the home to this initiative.
“The Arab world is facing a learning gap,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
The centre will be geared to print and distribute 10 million books in the next few years. The library will also be the headquarters of a Dh2.4 million Arabic Language Award launched by Sheikh Mohammed to help people to embrace their Arab identity.
Construction work has begun for the centre, which will be built to accommodate 2,600 visitors at any time, said Hussain Lootah, director general of Dubai Municipality.
The municipality estimates that 9 million visitors from overseas and across the country will visit the library each year.
“We have started piling work. The real construction work will start in June,” Mr Lootah said. “The whole area will be transformed. The structure is unique and iconic. It is a challenge.”
The learning centre is part of sweeping changes planned in the area. Al Jaddaf station was the last of 20 on the Dubai Metro Green Line that opened in 2014.
There are also plans for a new ferry service to link terminals in Festival City and Al Jaddaf to draw in tourists.
rtalwar@thenational.ae
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In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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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.”
Gran Gala del Calcio 2019 winners
Best Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Best Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)
Best Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
Best Goal: Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria vs Napoli)
Best Team: Atalanta
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Serie B Best Young Player: Sandro Tonali (Brescia)
Best Women’s Goal: Thaisa (Milan vs Juventus)
Best Women’s Player: Manuela Giugliano (Milan)
Best Women’s XI: Laura Giuliani (Milan); Alia Guagni (Fiorentina), Sara Gama (Juventus), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus), Elisa Bartoli (Roma); Aurora Galli (Juventus), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus); Valentina Giacinti (Milan), Ilaria Mauro (Fiorentina), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus)
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
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