Etihad Rail has completed another milestone in its Dh1.2 billion ($326.7 million) national rail network project by connecting Khalifa Port to the mainland with the construction of the Emirates’ first rail marine bridge.
The one-kilometre bridge, which runs parallel to the road link, will “improve the flow of goods to the region, and reduce shipping and trade costs”, said Khuloud Al Mazrouei, deputy project manager, Etihad Rail, who outlined details of the latest project update in a video shared on social media.
Ms Al Mazrouei said the connection was completed with the installation of the final one of 100 T-beams.
“The most important feature of this bridge is that it runs parallel to a road bridge of the same length, which connects the mainland of the emirate of Abu Dhabi with the sea container terminal,” Ms Al Mazrouei said.
“This ensures a smooth flow of tidal currents along the sides of the port and preserves the coral reefs.”
She said the construction of the marine bridge, which is being developed by 320 people who have recorded more than one million working hours so far, has encountered several issues.
“The biggest challenges are climate and environmental ones, caused by the area’s geography,” she said.
“These include tides, changes in the speed and direction of wind and high temperatures and humidity levels.
“We have dealt with such challenges during the construction works of the bridge, particularly during the building and designing of the T-beams, given their scale and size.”
Etihad Rail’s network will run for 1,200 kilometres across the UAE, from the border of Saudi Arabia to Fujairah.
The railway will link the principal centres of trade, industry, manufacturing, production, logistics, population and all the major import and export points of the UAE, as well as forming an integral part of the GCC railway network.
In May, Etihad Rail said 75 per cent of the network had now been built. Construction has been divided into two stages, the second of which includes four packages.
Stage one — a freight service linking the gasfields at Shah and Habshan to Ruwais — opened in 2016. Each day, it carries up to 22,000 tonnes of granulated sulphur from Habshan and Shah to Ruwais for Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.
Stage two joins Ghuwaifat in the west to Fujairah on the east.
The new network will reduce commute time by 30 to 40 per cent compared with other modes of transport.
Travelling from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, and from Dubai to Fujairah, will take 50 minutes, while Abu Dhabi to Al Ruwais will take 70 minutes, and Abu Dhabi to Fujairah 100 minutes.
A launch date for the passenger line and the exact route for this service have not yet been announced, but plans for the first passenger station in Fujairah have been unveiled.
The passenger trains will travel at up to 200km an hour and will link 11 cities and areas. Each can carry about 400 people.
Carriages will be equipped with vital amenities such as Wi-Fi, entertainment systems, charging points and food and beverage services.
Seating will include first class, business class and economy.
Once operational, the service is expected to carry more than 36 million people annually by 2030.
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.”
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
