Marwan bin Ghalita, an FNC member from Dubai, is concerned at lax licensing of shisha cafes. Silvia Razgova / The National
Marwan bin Ghalita, an FNC member from Dubai, is concerned at lax licensing of shisha cafes. Silvia Razgova / The National

Shisha cafe licensing by government agencies ‘flouting UAE’s tobacco laws’



ABU DHABI // Shisha cafes are still being granted permission to open in residential areas and near schools, a member of the Federal National Council said on Tuesday.

Marwan bin Ghalita (Dubai) said some government entitities were flouting the country's tobacco laws, which state shisha cafes must be at least 150 metres away from residential buildings, schools, hospitals and mosques, by allowing new cafes to open.

Mr bin Ghalita had prepared questions on the subject for the Minister of Health, Abdulrahman Al Owais. Although the minister failed to attend the session, he provided the council with a detailed report about the actions the Government has taken to warn residents of the dangers of smoking.

Mr bin Ghalita said tobacco laws needed to be enforced “to protect and preserve the rights” of Emiratis.

While the anti-smoking campaigns should be lauded, he said, many government departments were still permitting shisha cafes to open in residential neighbourhoods.

“The cafes are very much available – under apartment buildings and close to schools – and tobacco is also found everywhere. We need to find a way to limit this practice. Schoolchildren find it easy to access the smoking centres,” he said.

He believed the anti-smoking campaign was being thwarted by “the signature of a pen”.

“We are talking about efforts of a whole country here and this law must prohibit any employee who undermines and underestimates the law.” He said the law “must be applied properly”.

He suggested the FNC draw up an action plan to implement licensing standards and prevent further permits for shisha cafes that breach the laws.

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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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