DUBAI // The Philippine consulate is looking for IT experts in its community to design a passport-appointment system that will help to clear a backlog, preferably for free.
"There have been no takers so far," said Frank Cimafranca, the new consul general in Dubai. "We hope they can do the job on a voluntary basis."
Once a new system is in place the consulate may ask Manila for an extra staff member to oversee it, Mr Cimafranca said.
In November last year, the consulate tried to hire a Dubai company to manage the system.
"They provided us with some proposals which we reviewed," Mr Cimafranca said.
"However, they wanted us to collect the service fees for them and the amount was quite substantial, among other concerns. So we're back to the drawing board."
As it stands, Filipinos make appointments using the consulate's Facebook page PCG Dubai and N. Emirates. Others email mrpdxb@yahoo.com, while the rest visit the consulate in Al Qusais.
Officers plan to run special sessions at the consulate and in Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah on a weekend, to clear some of the backlog.
The Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi does not have an online-appointment system either. Walk-in applicants are accepted on a "first come, first served" basis.
Some Filipinos from Dubai and the Northern Emirates are travelling to the capital to avoid the situation in Dubai.
"We have no problem with it," Mr Cimafranca said. "Those who have the time and resources can go to the embassy."
But he said the present system at the consulate was cumbersome.
"It's not automated and we do not have a dedicated staff to manage it," Mr Cimafranca said.
"So many emails and messages are coming in and it's difficult to filter them."
If an applicant books an appointment now, a date will be set for mid-February.
Every day three consular staff have been working flat out, processing up to 280 applications.
The process involves encoding all details and taking the biometrics of an applicant. Applications are sent to Manila and back, which takes up to one month.
"We'd like to know how many are applying on a daily basis," Mr Cimafranca said.
"It's seasonal. It can be fewer than 200 but the number can surge to more than 400 in a single day."
Consulate officials have already requested three more machines.
"We're stretching our limits and trying to optimise the use of the three machines," Mr Cimafranca said. "When Filipinos flock to the consulate to renew their passports, we can't tell them to return. That's our predicament."
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Name: Carzaty
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Launched: 2017
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Based: Dubai and Muscat
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Secret Nation: The Hidden Armenians of Turkey
Avedis Hadjian, (IB Tauris)
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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