Coronavirus: UAE issues safety guidelines when using public transport


Gillian Duncan
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Anyone using public transport should keep a safe distance from other passengers and avoid touching surfaces, authorities have said.

Those riding a taxi should always sit in the back seat.

Plastic screens to separate the driver and passengers will remain in place.

The UAE is slowly returning to normal life after businesses were shut and services suspended for several weeks to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

But people have been urged to take extra precautions to protect themselves when venturing out.

Officials have now issued advice for using public transport.

“While riding a taxi, leave a safe distance between you and the driver,” said a video, which has been released on the state news agency Wam.

“Do not sit on the front seat.”

People should also wear masks and avoid touching surfaces when they travel in a taxi, bus or the metro.

  • Waitress at Vanitas, Nina Manalo wears a branded mask at the Palazzo Versace hotel, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
    Waitress at Vanitas, Nina Manalo wears a branded mask at the Palazzo Versace hotel, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
  • A man shields his face from the sun on a hot day in Al Barsha, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
    A man shields his face from the sun on a hot day in Al Barsha, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
  • A woman walks through the disinfection booth at the Palazzo Versace hotel, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
    A woman walks through the disinfection booth at the Palazzo Versace hotel, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
  • The entrance to Vanitas at the Palazzo Versace hotel, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
    The entrance to Vanitas at the Palazzo Versace hotel, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
  • A man wearing a face mask walks across an open space of land in Al Barsha, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
    A man wearing a face mask walks across an open space of land in Al Barsha, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
  • Duncan Gichana & Luliia Sliusar at the Mosaico lobby lounge in the Palazzo Versace hotel, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
    Duncan Gichana & Luliia Sliusar at the Mosaico lobby lounge in the Palazzo Versace hotel, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
  • A man sits by Dubai Creek on Baniyas road in Deira. Reem Mohammed / The National
    A man sits by Dubai Creek on Baniyas road in Deira. Reem Mohammed / The National
  • A man walking in Al Sabkha in Dubai. Reem Mohammed / The National
    A man walking in Al Sabkha in Dubai. Reem Mohammed / The National
  • A man wearing a face mask in Al Sabkha, Dubai. Reem Mohammed/The National
    A man wearing a face mask in Al Sabkha, Dubai. Reem Mohammed/The National
  • Information desk at the new Covid-19 prime assessment centre in ADNEC, Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National
    Information desk at the new Covid-19 prime assessment centre in ADNEC, Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National

Passengers should also avoid touching their face without cleaning their hands with sanitiser and keep the window open to let the air flow.

Cash transactions should be avoided and commuters should not take a taxi or bus with many passengers, officials said.

Last week, the authorities announced that passengers can also make contactless payments for taxi rides in the capital.

The payments can be made by downloading the Abu Dhabi Taxi app, which is available on Apple Store and Google Play.

Passengers need to create an account and provide credit card details, which are saved for future taxi journeys.

Once the trip is over, passengers can make the payment through the app without any need to interact with the driver.

An Integrated Transport Centre representative said the move was in line with the organisation’s efforts to improve the level of service and minimise human interaction to limit the spread of the virus.

The centre manages public transport in the emirate.

In Dubai, passengers can book Roads and Transport Authority taxis directly through the Careem app.

At the end of the journey, the fare will be automatically deducted from the passenger’s debit or credit card.

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Barings Bank

 Barings, one of Britain’s oldest investment banks, was
founded in 1762 and operated for 233 years before it went bust after a trading
scandal. 

Barings Bank collapsed in February 1995 following colossal
losses caused by rogue trader Nick Lesson. 

Leeson gambled more than $1 billion in speculative trades,
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Winners

Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)

Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski

Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)

Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea

Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona

Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)

Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)

Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)

Best National Team of the Year: Italy 

Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello

Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)

Player Career Award: Ronaldinho

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You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”

However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.

This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”

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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.”