ABU DHABI // Facing a 2012 deadline to meet new government guidelines for renovating their shops, some grocery store owners in the capital foresee financial ruin.
Beeran Kattil said he could not afford the Dh120,000 to Dh150,000 it would cost to remake his Al Ittihad area store, Munim Grocery.
"No money," said Mr Kattil, 55, who has operated a grocery here for 20 years. When his licence expires, he will close his shop and go home to India, he said.
On Saturday, the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) set a December 31, 2012, deadline for groceries in the capital to comply with new rules that will standardise the city's estimated 1,300 corner shops so they resemble petrol station minimarts, with less clutter, computerised tills, uniformed employees and safer food storage.
Owners will need three to eight weeks to implement the changes, officials say.
Businesses that do not make the changes will lose their licences when they come up for renewal, said Mohammed Jalal Al Reyaysa, the director of communication and community service for ADFCA.
The new shops will be more consumer-friendly, Mr Reyaysa said.
"As for the grocery owners, they stand to gain as well," he said in a statement. "Businesses will become more competitive and conform to international standards. Once the new system is implemented, it will result in more consumer satisfaction, which in turn will boost businesses."
Grocery shop owners and employees, however, said the changes would hit them in their pockets in three ways. First they must pay for renovations. Then they will lose revenue while their shops are closed for the work. Finally, revenue will decrease when they re-open, some predicted.
Shops will not be able to carry as much merchandise under the new storage requirements, said Hanif Paramel, 40, from India, an employee at Abu Backar Grocery in Al Ittihad.
Faisal, owner of a grocery near Muroor Road, said: "There won't be enough space for things to keep.
"The vision is good, but what they are saying ... they are not giving support."
At an estimated Dh4,500 per sq metre, renovation costs will hit more than Dh200,000 for his shop, he said. And the work will take several months.
"The customers, what will they do?" he asked.
In January, ADFCA plans to open an information centre to help shop owners comply with the new rules, Mr Al Reyaysa said. The agency also plans to create and distribute a renovation instruction manual by the end of the month.
However, Faisal said he felt caught between the rules and his budget. "They are seeing us as the enemy," he said. "They are not co-operating with us."
[ vnereim@thenational.ae ]
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What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
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2 Theertha Satish, age 20, 66 matches
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Sour Grapes
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Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Pages: 176
SPEC SHEET: APPLE M3 MACBOOK AIR (13")
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I/O: Thunderbolt 3/USB-4 (2), 3.5mm audio, Touch ID
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Battery: 52.6Wh lithium-polymer, up to 18 hours, MagSafe charging
Camera: 1080p FaceTime HD
Video: Support for Apple ProRes, HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10
Audio: 4-speaker system, wide stereo, support for Dolby Atmos, Spatial Audio and dynamic head tracking (with AirPods)
Colours: Midnight, silver, space grey, starlight
In the box: MacBook Air, 30W/35W dual-port/70w power adapter, USB-C-to-MagSafe cable, 2 Apple stickers
Price: From Dh4,599
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Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 and electric motor
Max power: 700hp at 7,500rpm
Max torque: 720Nm at 2,250rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
0-100km/h: 3.0sec
Top speed: 330kph
Price: From Dh1.14 million ($311,000)
On sale: Now
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Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
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if you go
The flights
Flydubai flies to Podgorica or nearby Tivat via Sarajevo from Dh2,155 return including taxes. Turkish Airlines flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Podgorica via Istanbul; alternatively, fly with Flydubai from Dubai to Belgrade and take a short flight with Montenegro Air to Podgorica. Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Podgorica via Belgrade. Flights cost from about Dh3,000 return including taxes. There are buses from Podgorica to Plav.
The tour
While you can apply for a permit for the route yourself, it’s best to travel with an agency that will arrange it for you. These include Zbulo in Albania (www.zbulo.org) or Zalaz in Montenegro (www.zalaz.me).
EU's 20-point migration plan
1. Send EU border guards to Balkans
2. €40 million for training and surveillance
3. Review EU border protection
4. Reward countries that fund Balkans
5. Help Balkans improve asylum system
6. Improve migrant reception facilities
7. Close gaps in EU registration system
8. Run pilots of faster asylum system
9. Improve relocation of migrants within EU
10. Bolster migration unit in Greece
11. Tackle smuggling at Serbia/Hungary border
12. Implement €30 million anti-smuggling plan
13. Sanctions on transport linked to smuggling
14. Expand pilot deportation scheme in Bosnia
15. Training for Balkans to deport migrants
16. Joint task forces with Balkans and countries of origin
17. Close loopholes in Balkan visa policy
18. Monitor migration laws passed in Balkans
19. Use visa-free travel as leverage over Balkans
20. Joint EU messages to Balkans and countries of origin
MATCH INFO
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Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.
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UFC FIGHT NIGHT: SAUDI ARABIA RESULTS
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Middleweight:
Robert Whittaker defeated Ikram Aliskerov via knockout (Round 1)
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Middleweight:
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Middleweight:
Shara Magomedov def Antonio Trocoli via knockout (Round 3)
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Lightweight:
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Welterweight:
Rinat Fakhretdinov defeats Nicolas Dalby via split decision
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Muin Gafurov def Kang Kyung-ho via unanimous decision
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Sector: FinTech / PropTech
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Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)
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.”
