DUBAI // Five more stations on the Dubai Metro's Red Line are to open next month, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced.
The Business Bay, First Gulf Bank, Sharaf DG, Jumeirah Lake Towers and Nakheel stations are scheduled to open in mid-October, though Essa al Dossary, the chief executive of the RTA's public transportation agency, did not provide an exact date. That would leave just three of the eventual 29 stops on the line to be completed.
The RTA has opened the line in stages, with the initial 10 stops being added to throughout this year. The agency said the final three stations would not begin service this year because there was not sufficient development around the areas, citing estimates of low commuter figures. Those stations are Energy, Jebel Ali Industrial and Jebel Ali.
Mr al Dossary also said the Green Line, which has 20 planned stops and will intersect the Red Line, was expected to begin operation in August.
"We hope the Metro will be the backbone of the transport system in Dubai," he said.
Details were also released of the emirate's Public Transport Day, which is set to take place on November 1.
Commuters will be able to use the Metro, public buses and water buses free of charge on that day if they have a Nol fare card, said Abdul Mohsin Younes, the chief executive of the RTA's strategy and corporate governance.
"There will be no limit, no restriction, it is unlimited free travel for the whole day," Mr Younes said. "This will improve the culture of public transport among all sections, reduce traffic congestion and integrate different means of transport."
Commuters will still need the cards to enter Metro stations but no fare will be debited. The event will mark five years since the RTA's inception, with activities planned at different stations. Some 2.7 million Nol cards have been sold since the opening of the Metro in September last year.
Commuters welcomed the imminent station openings, which should make it possible for many of them to walk to their nearest stop rather than taking a bus or taxi there.
Myron Rodrigues, the manager of a sports facility in the Gold and Diamond Park, plans to buy Nol cards for his workers once the First Gulf Bank station opens.
"It will definitely make a difference," he said. "It will save time and money. We will give employees Nol cards. Instead of the company car picking them up and dropping them off at Bur Dubai, they can commute by Metro."
Mr Rodrigues commutes from Sharjah in a friend's car to the Rashidya station, where he takes the Metro to either the Mall of the Emirates or Noor Islamic Bank station.
"Once First Gulf opens I can walk to the office," he said. "It will take five minutes. I won't need to take a taxi from the other stations any more."
The new stops will benefit offices and commercial buildings around the Business Bay station; retail, manufacturing units and warehouses in the Gold and Diamond Park near the First Gulf Bank station; high-rise residential towers near Jumeirah Lake Towers and Sharaf DG stops as well as villas and the Emirates Gold Club near the Nakheel station.
Claire Ruru, a New Zealander, described the news that she could soon walk the 100 metres from her apartment to the Jumeirah Lake Towers station as "fantastic".
"Now it will be door to door by Metro for me," said Ms Ruru, who works near to the World Trade Centre station.
"This is great, great news. I will not need to take a taxi or use the feeder buses."
Meanwhile, Tanya Rehmani, whose family moved from downtown Dubai to an apartment near the Sharaf DG station earlier this year, said she was "very happy".
"Everybody has been waiting for this news. I will save so much time each way ... this is what I have been hoping for so long."
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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.”
