Known as the bridge that leads to nothing, the hanging bridge near Al Bateen beach, Abu Dhabi, will now finally reach to the first phase of Al Hudayriat Island, with the development's entertainment area launching on Sunday
The project, which has been years in the making since it was first announced in 2009, was partly launched and officially inaugurated by Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Sunday afternoon. Among the attractions are an undisturbed, 600-metre beach, running and cycling tracks, water sports, a bouncy castle and a children's playground.
It is part of a new city development that will include housing for Emiratis and commercial attractions, advancing Abu Dhabi with cutting-edge ideas that will be put into action over the next 20 years. The ongoing cost of the works has not yet been announced, but an official hinted there are a lot of "mega projects" still to come.
As Sheikh Nahyan cut the ribbon, dozens of helium balloons and pigeons were released, flying towards the new beach.
"This project strengthens the status of Abu Dhabi, which is able to provide a package of attractions that serve the needs of visitors and residents," said Falah Al Ahbabi, director of Abu Dhabi Municipality's Urban Planning Council.
"The beach has been inaugurated during the Year of Zayed to encourage one of the [Founding Father's] main values: sustainability," he said. The UPC previously announced they will be looking for innovative ideas to make the island sustainable and a haven for ecotourism and marine wildlife.
A timeline for the future and completion of the island has not been announced yet. Yet the Abu Dhabi Sports Council have already laid out grand plans for athletes across the massive island – there are two loops of running and cycling tracks, one of 5 kilometres and another of 10km.
Set to Olympics-size standards, the island is also designed to host a world series of triathlons – "it's a beautiful hub for that," said an official from the council, who preferred not to be named.
"It has the largest space on the planet, that we know of, that is dedicated just to sports."
While the beach appeared to be up and running with lifeguards in position and passers-by already enjoying a walk flanked by beautiful nature, it will only be open for swimming once the safety line is in place after Ramadan.
Other athletic attractions include five football fields, four basketball courts, four volleyball and four beach football courts.
Eissa Al Mazrouei, executive director of infrastructure at Abu Dhabi Municipality, said that the facilities will be free of charge, except for food and bike rentals.
This first phase makes up only one third of the island's 3,000 acres, which Mr Al Mazrouei described as "a gift for the people who visit Abu Dhabi to have such a place to enjoy their time".
"There will be food trucks on the beach to serve all the people who come here," he said.
With a large number of island users expected, there will also be a camping area, zip line, kayaks, kite-surfing, land sailing, remote control stations to direct airplanes and a mountain bike course, said a sports council official.
Some eager Abu Dhabi residents had already found their way to the island, ahead of its inauguration: cyclist Ted Salvador and his two friends were out using the tracks on Sunday.
"We go cycling once a week at the Corniche, but today we decided to come here," said the 40-year-old chef from the Philippines. "We started our ride from the Corniche and cycled up to here. It took less than an hour."
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Priyanka Yadav and her daughter, Sophia, 7, were also strolling along the beach, exploring the island on Sunday.
"We were not aware that today was the inauguration," said the 34-year-old accountant from India. "This is my first time here. I heard from a friend that there is a nice and beautiful beach so I thought 'I have to visit'."
Ms Yadav has been living in Abu Dhabi for 10 years, and said that Hudayriat Island is the most peaceful and relaxing place she has been to.
"I also brought my mother sitting over there, she is visiting from India. I will bring her regularly throughout her visit."
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
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.”
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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If you go
The flights
The closest international airport for those travelling from the UAE is Denver, Colorado. British Airways (www.ba.com) flies from the UAE via London from Dh3,700 return, including taxes. From there, transfers can be arranged to the ranch or it’s a seven-hour drive. Alternatively, take an internal flight to the counties of Cody, Casper, or Billings
The stay
Red Reflet offers a series of packages, with prices varying depending on season. All meals and activities are included, with prices starting from US$2,218 (Dh7,150) per person for a minimum stay of three nights, including taxes. For more information, visit red-reflet-ranch.net.
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
