• President Sheikh Mohamed shakes hands with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, at Al Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi. Photo: UAE Presidential Court
    President Sheikh Mohamed shakes hands with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, at Al Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi. Photo: UAE Presidential Court
  • Sheikh Mohamed and Mr Scholz, witness the signing of a New Energy Security and Industry Accelerator agreement, by Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Group, and Dr Franziska Brantner, Parliamentary State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate of Germany, at Al Shati Palace. Photo: UAE Presidential Court
    Sheikh Mohamed and Mr Scholz, witness the signing of a New Energy Security and Industry Accelerator agreement, by Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Group, and Dr Franziska Brantner, Parliamentary State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate of Germany, at Al Shati Palace. Photo: UAE Presidential Court
  • Sheikh Mohamed and Olaf Scholz pose for a photograph with the German Economic delegation, after a meeting at Al Shati Palace. Photo: UAE Presidential Court
    Sheikh Mohamed and Olaf Scholz pose for a photograph with the German Economic delegation, after a meeting at Al Shati Palace. Photo: UAE Presidential Court
  • President Sheikh Mohamed and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held talks on Sunday as a key energy partnership was agreed by the nations. All photos: Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed/Twitter
    President Sheikh Mohamed and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held talks on Sunday as a key energy partnership was agreed by the nations. All photos: Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed/Twitter
  • Sheikh Mohamed and Mr Sholz witnessed the signing of the Energy Security and Industry Accelerator Agreement.
    Sheikh Mohamed and Mr Sholz witnessed the signing of the Energy Security and Industry Accelerator Agreement.
  • The energy deal was signed by Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and the UAE's climate change envoy, and Dr Franziska Brantner, Germany's Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.
    The energy deal was signed by Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and the UAE's climate change envoy, and Dr Franziska Brantner, Germany's Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.
  • Sheikh Mohamed spoke of the close friendship between the UAE and Germany following the signing of the energy partnership.
    Sheikh Mohamed spoke of the close friendship between the UAE and Germany following the signing of the energy partnership.

UAE

Government

UAE and Germany sign major energy deal to supply gas

Key agreement witnessed by President Sheikh Mohamed and German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz

The National

September 25, 2022

  • English
  • Arabic

The UAE and Germany signed a "landmark agreement" on Sunday aimed at accelerating joint efforts to boost energy security, decarbonisation and combat climate change.

The major deal was struck in the presence of President Sheikh Mohamed and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is currently visiting the Emirates.

The new Energy Security and Industry Accelerator Agreement was signed by Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and the UAE's climate change envoy, and Dr Franziska Brantner, Germany's Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

Sheikh Mohamed told of the "close friendship and strategic partnership" the two countries enjoy in a post on Twitter after the deal was finalised.

Nations build on close ties

Under the international partnership, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company will supply German energy company RWE AG with liquefied natural gas cargo towards the end of the year. This will be used in Germany’s floating LNG import terminal at Brunsbuttel.

Adnoc has also reserved a number of other LNG cargos for German companies in 2023.

Adnoc has entered into a series of agreements with German firms for demonstration cargos of low-carbon ammonia, a carrier fuel for hydrogen that can play a critical role in supporting decarbonisation.

It was also announced that Adnoc had completed the UAE's first direct diesel delivery to Germany this month and has agreed terms with Wilhelm Hoyer GmbH & Co. KG (Hoyer) to supply up to 250,000 tonnes of diesel per month next year.

The UAE and other countries across the Middle East and North Africa region are pursuing plans to incorporate hydrogen into their energy mix and tap into the clean fuel for different industrial applications.

Both countries expect to work in tandem on further opportunities to boost growth in the growing hydrogen sector.

The alliance will also involve leading UAE renewable energy firm, Masdar, exploring opportunities in the offshore wind markets in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea in Germany. This will be with the aim of generating up to 10GW of renewable energy production capacity by 2030.

"This landmark new agreement reinforces the rapidly growing energy partnership between the UAE and Germany," Dr Al Jaber said.

"As we embrace the energy transition, Adnoc is fully committed to accelerate and invest in projects of energy security, decarbonisation and climate action as we continue to be a responsible and reliable provider and trusted exporter of low-carbon energy."

Mr Scholz said: "I welcome the signing of the joint declaration of intent on the "Energy Security and Industry Accelerator - Esia.

"Through Esia, we enable the swift implementation of strategic lighthouse projects on the focus areas of renewable energies, hydrogen, LNG and climate action."

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Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

US tops drug cost charts

The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.

Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.

In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.

Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol. 

The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.

High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.

Your rights as an employee

The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.

The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.

If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.

Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.

The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.

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Most sixes: 292 – Chris Gayle

Most fours: 491 – Gautam Gambhir

Highest individual score: 175 not out – Chris Gayle (for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in 2013)

Highest strike-rate: 177.29 – Andre Russell

Highest strike-rate in an innings: 422.22 – Chris Morris (for Delhi Daredevils against Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017)

Highest average: 52.16 – Vijay Shankar

Most centuries: 6 – Chris Gayle

Most fifties: 36 – Gautam Gambhir

Fastest hundred (balls faced): 30 – Chris Gayle (for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in 2013)

Fastest fifty (balls faced): 14 – Lokesh Rahul (for Kings XI Punjab against Delhi Daredevils in 2018)

 

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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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Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

Updated: September 25, 2022, 5:19 PM
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