SHARJAH // Al Jazeera Park in Sharjah is to undergo a major facelift as part of plans to redevelop tourist destinations in the emirate.
The park, on Al Arouba Street, was closed last week as preparations to start the makeover work get under way, said Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, the chairwoman of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq).
"We will soon announce the development plan for Al Jazeera Park after completing the final touches to the strategy and time schedule," she said.
"We are confident that the project will add significantly to the already extensive list of the emirate's attractions that truly makes Sharjah the cultural capital of the Arab world."
Opened on October 21, 1979, Al Jazeera Park covers 13,000 square metres on an island in the Khalid Lagoon, opposite Sharjah Central Market.
It also features a small zoo.
Although details are yet to be announced, the park renovation plan comes a few months after the opening of Shurooq's Al Majaz waterfront project.
"Shurooq is still savouring the great success the Al Majaz waterfront has achieved and the huge public turnout it has received," said Marwan Al Sarkal, the chief executive of Shurooq.
"Hence we believe that the development of Al Jazeera Park is timely, especially in view of the park's growing need for development so as to meet the demands of visitors and tourists."
Mr Al Sarkal said the upgrade would make the park "a regionally competitive tourist attraction and an important destination that will richly enhance Sharjah's tourist landmarks".
The development, which will be supervised by Shurooq, will be in cooperation with the Sharjah Municipality, the Department of Public Works, the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority, and a number of other government and private bodies.
Shurooq is also supervising the Heart of Sharjah project, the Chedi Khor Fakkan Resort, the Kalba Eco-Tourism project, and manages Al Qasba, the business and leisure complex.
Mohamoud Hillal, a Sharjah resident who frequents the park, welcomed its redevelopment.
"The park is good, but furnishing it with extra public amenities, like restaurants, would make it better," Mr Hillal said.
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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.”
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
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