Follow the latest updates on Expo 2020 Dubai here
With Expo 2020 Dubai starting on Friday, the UAE's leaders and officials are showing their support for the event by decorating their profile pictures on social media with its logo.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, and Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Ruler of Dubai, are among those whose Twitter profiles are now framed by the golden rings to mark the six-month world’s fair.
The ring has become synonymous with the event, but why was this symbol chosen?
A significant archaeological find
In 2002, Sheikh Mohammed was flying in a helicopter over a patch of desert, 30 kilometres south of what is now the Expo site, when he noticed something unusual among the dunes.
He spoke about his discovery with Dr Hussein Qandil, then director of Dubai’s Department of Archaeology, who began an initial exploration of the site, known now as Saruq Al Hadid.
It was clear this was an archaeological site of huge significance.
What had caught Sheikh Mohammed’s eye proved to be the slag by-product from the ancient smelting of copper and iron.
Dr Qandil carried out a small survey of Saruq Al Hadid, and three and a half metres further down, his archaeologists found a 50-centimetre seam of sand packed with “an impressive inventory of objects”.
That hoard included ceramics, dozens of beads, and copper and bronze artefacts, including arrowheads, axe heads, a fish hook, bracelets, knives and, intriguingly, snake figurines.
The site, it is now believed, was connected to an ancient people who lived across south-east Arabia and revered snakes.
Five seasons of excavations led by Jordan’s Department of Antiquities followed, revealing “an extraordinary collection of Iron Age artefacts”.
But it was digs carried out in 2008 and 2009 by the Dubai Desert Survey, a joint project between American researchers and the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, that “transformed our interpretation of the site”, Dr Qandil and his colleagues wrote in the journal Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy in 2012.
“What was once perceived as an Iron Age centre of bronze production [had] been revealed to be a multi-period site with distinct site functions spread over more than three millennia.”
It was here that the ancient ring that inspired the Expo logo's design was discovered.
Sheikh Mohammed unveiled the design of the logo at a prestigious ceremony in 2016, where it was projected in gold light on to the Burj Khalifa.
The elaborately fashioned gold ring was evidence that “this land connected ancient civilisations”, Sheikh Mohammed said at the launch.
He said it showed how “we will continue to be a hub that connects the world”.
More than 4,000 years ago, “the people who lived in this land had a deep creative spirit and today the people of this country are building the nation’s future for centuries to come", he said.
A ground-breaking site
In all, thousands of artefacts, made from iron, bronze and gold, have been unearthed from the original site, including swords and large quantities of gold rings, along with evidence of copper smelting.
Many of these are now in the Saruq Al Hadid museum, inaugurated by Sheikh Mohammed in July 2016.
Such is the “unprecedented scale and diversity” of the site, as one archaeologist has written, that it has “dramatically challenged existing ideas about the nature and development of Iron Age communities in south-eastern Arabia”.
But not all of Saruq Al Hadid’s secrets have been unearthed. As Dr Qandil and his co-authors wrote in 2012, this is a site that is “both enigmatic and spectacular, presenting a fascinating problem for archaeologists”.
One of several mysteries surrounding Saruq Al Hadid is that, while it has yielded “abundant evidence for metal production and a vast collection of elite goods”, it is between 50 and 100 kilometres from known sources of fresh water, ore or fuel.
Despite this, the site’s slag heap was mute testimony to “a record of intensive metal production that would have required the transport of large quantities of ore and fuel over long distances”.
For Prof Lloyd Weeks of the University of New England in Australia, who is leading an exploration of the site in collaboration with the government of Dubai, the “inexplicable abundance” of material that has been found at Saruq Al Hadid is the central mystery.
“The site was clearly used for smelting metal, which is strange given how far it is from sources of ore or fuel, but so far no settlement or structures have been discovered,” Prof Weeks said when the archaeological partnership with Dubai was announced in November 2014.
Nevertheless, the site yielded “thousands upon thousands of bronze, gold and iron artefacts, as well as vessels of pottery and stone and thousands of beads of decorative stones”.
Another major question yet to be answered centres on why so much valuable gold and copper, much of it fashioned into beautiful items, was apparently abandoned in the middle of the desert.
It is one of the many questions that Prof Weeks and his team hope to answer as part of their work at the site.
“We will conduct post-excavation analysis of the objects to determine what they’re made of, what they were used for, where the materials were sourced from and why they were left behind,” he said.
“Finally, we will keep on digging at the site in the hope that we will discover more about how the location has changed in the 3,000 years since [it] was used. We’re also hoping to find evidence of settlement that may help to answer some more questions for us.”
The passing of time
More than five years have passed since the ring was revealed as the basis of the logo for Expo 2020 Dubai.
Since then, buildings for the world’s fair have risen in the desert sands of the emirate’s south.
There are hundreds of pavilions, apartment blocks, restaurants, offices, parks and playgrounds, as well as the extension of the Dubai Metro's route to reach the site.
There is also the imposing Al Wasl Plaza dome, described as the “beating heart” of Expo 2020 Dubai.
Meaning “connection” in English, Al Wasl is the historical name for Dubai, and the steel trellis is the centrepiece of the site, where all roads meet, and reflects the event’s aim to bring people together.
The dome's shape is also modelled on the ancient ring and features intertwined logos.
Like the Eiffel Tower after the 1889 Expo, Al Wasl is a permanent installation that will remain after the world’s fair closes at the end of March 2022.
This article is an updated version of one previously published in 2016.
Watch: What exactly is an Expo?
Squad
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
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.”
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The low down
Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films
Director: Namrata Singh Gujral
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark
Rating: 2/5
How to turn your property into a holiday home
- Ensure decoration and styling – and portal photography – quality is high to achieve maximum rates.
- Research equivalent Airbnb homes in your location to ensure competitiveness.
- Post on all relevant platforms to reach the widest audience; whether you let personally or via an agency know your potential guest profile – aiming for the wrong demographic may leave your property empty.
- Factor in costs when working out if holiday letting is beneficial. The annual DCTM fee runs from Dh370 for a one-bedroom flat to Dh1,200. Tourism tax is Dh10-15 per bedroom, per night.
- Check your management company has a physical office, a valid DTCM licence and is licencing your property and paying tourism taxes. For transparency, regularly view your booking calendar.
Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre V6
Power: 295hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 355Nm at 5,200rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km
Price: Dh179,999-plus
On sale: now
Changing visa rules
For decades the UAE has granted two and three year visas to foreign workers, tied to their current employer. Now that's changing.
Last year, the UAE cabinet also approved providing 10-year visas to foreigners with investments in the UAE of at least Dh10 million, if non-real estate assets account for at least 60 per cent of the total. Investors can bring their spouses and children into the country.
It also approved five-year residency to owners of UAE real estate worth at least 5 million dirhams.
The government also said that leading academics, medical doctors, scientists, engineers and star students would be eligible for similar long-term visas, without the need for financial investments in the country.
The first batch - 20 finalists for the Mohammed bin Rashid Medal for Scientific Distinction.- were awarded in January and more are expected to follow.
If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
BABYLON
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Sri Lanka v England
First Test, at Galle
England won by 211
Second Test, at Kandy
England won by 57 runs
Third Test, at Colombo
From Nov 23-27
Brief scores:
Toss: India, opted to field
Australia 158-4 (17 ov)
Maxwell 46, Lynn 37; Kuldeep 2-24
India 169-7 (17 ov)
Dhawan 76, Karthik 30; Zampa 2-22
Result: Australia won by 4 runs by D/L method
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
All about the Sevens
Cape Town Sevens on Saturday and Sunday: Pools A – South Africa, Kenya, France, Russia; B – New Zealand, Australia, Spain, United States; C – England, Scotland, Argentina, Uganda; D – Fiji, Samoa, Canada, Wales
HSBC World Sevens Series standing after first leg in Dubai 1 South Africa; 2 New Zealand; 3 England; 4 Fiji; 5 Australia; 6 Samoa; 7 Kenya; 8 Scotland; 9 France; 10 Spain; 11 Argentina; 12 Canada; 13 Wales; 14 Uganda; 15 United States; 16 Russia
'Joker'
Directed by: Todd Phillips
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix
Rating: Five out of five stars
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Saturday
West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur (3.30pm)
Burnley v Huddersfield Town (7pm)
Everton v Bournemouth (7pm)
Manchester City v Crystal Palace (7pm)
Southampton v Manchester United (7pm)
Stoke City v Chelsea (7pm)
Swansea City v Watford (7pm)
Leicester City v Liverpool (8.30pm)
Sunday
Brighton and Hove Albion v Newcastle United (7pm)
Monday
Arsenal v West Bromwich Albion (11pm)
Prophets of Rage
(Fantasy Records)
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
2.0
Director: S Shankar
Producer: Lyca Productions; presented by Dharma Films
Cast: Rajnikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
