Gargash says restoration of full Iran ties 'embarrasses Doha'

Qatar's decision to return its ambassador to Tehran "embarrasses Doha and reveals its political tactics", the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash said on Friday.

In a series of tweets, Dr Gargash also questioned the reasoning behind the move, which comes at a time when the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt are boycotting Qatar over its closeness to Iran and its support for individuals and groups linked to extremism and terrorism.

He said Qatar’s decision to restore full diplomatic relations with Iran was accompanied by a “confused justification”.

Qatar’s "soverign decision should not be shy or confused, but it’s arrogance and adolescent behaviour makes it so”, he tweeted. "It's justification is not convincing."

Dr Gargash said the reference to the UAE’s trade relations with Iran to “justify the return of the Qatari ambassador disregards Iran's main interest in the Gulf which lies in Qatar’s gas fields”.

Qatar’s announced that its ambassador to Tehran would "return to resume his diplomatic duties" on its foreign ministry website on Thursday.

The Qatari decision was conveyed by foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani during a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif to discuss "bilateral relations and means of boosting and developing them", Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said.

"We welcome this measure by the Qatari government," Mr Qassemi said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

Qatar had withdrawn its ambassador early last year in a show of solidarity with Saudi Arabia, after two Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran were attacked during protests against the kingdom's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

However, the two countries maintained commercial ties, particularly their joint operation of the world's largest gas field, called the South Pars Field by Iran and the North Field by Qatar.

Since the diplomatic dispute with the quartet of Arab nations began in June, Iran has allowed Qatar's national carrier to use its airspace and sent fresh food supplies to Doha.

Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

THE CLOWN OF GAZA

Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah

Starring: Alaa Meqdad

Rating: 4/5

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The rules of the road keeping cyclists safe

Cyclists must wear a helmet, arm and knee pads

Have a white front-light and a back red-light on their bike

They must place a number plate with reflective light to the back of the bike to alert road-users

Avoid carrying weights that could cause the bike to lose balance

They must cycle on designated lanes and areas and ride safe on pavements to avoid bumping into pedestrians

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.”

Classification of skills

A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.

A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.

The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.

Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE

Join parent networks
Look beyond school fees
Keep an open mind

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Silent Hill f

Publisher: Konami

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Rating: 4.5/5

The rules on fostering in the UAE

A foster couple or family must:

be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
not be younger than 25 years old
not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially

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What is tokenisation?

Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets.