ABU DHABI // With demonstrations of flamethrowing, flyboarding and all the other attractions on offer, visitors to the Volvo Ocean Race Village yesterday will barely have noticed that none of the fleet had arrived yet.
Hundreds of people descended upon the capital’s breakwater this weekend, gearing up for the arrival of the six boats taking part in the round-the-world race. The Abu Dhabi stop marks the end of the second leg of the journey for the fleet, which includes first-leg winner Azzam, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s entry.
As the three frontrunners continued their journey to Abu Dhabi, the 35,000-square-metre purpose-built Destination Village, which is expected to welcome tens of thousands of visitors during the fleet’s three-week stopover, opened to a rush of race fans soaking up the sports and entertainment on offer.
Watersports, unsurprisingly, feature heavily at the Village.
Twenty-year-old Abboud Naser gave flyboard demonstrations and performed stunts with a flamethrower and UAE flag, before teaching visitors about the sport, which involves being thrust into the air by water-propelled jet packs that are attached to people’s feet and powered by a jet ski.
“It is not difficult,” said the Emirati, who competed in last week’s Flyboard World Cup, in Dubai. “Come try it and fly with us.”
Mark Dorsey, an American expatriate and diving instructor at Al Mahara Diving Centre, encouraged children and adults alike to try scuba diving in a free-standing freshwater tank.
Diving is not only a fun way to keep fit, said Mr Dorsey, but also has educational value.
“It helps people become more appreciative of the environment because it becomes their playground,” he said.
And with the help of mascot Dana the Dugong, the centre is raising awareness about the protected species. The UAE has the world’s second-largest population of the herbivorous marine mammal, behind Australia.
Other activities include archery tag, where participants used rubber-tipped arrows to tag each other.
Noukhada Adventure Company is promoting kayaking and archery tag, which owner Mark Freeman, from the UK, hopes will be a hit in schools.
“It’s a bit like paintballing but without the mess or pain,” he said.
Visitors also queued to try their luck on a huge climbing wall provided by outdoor specialists Adventure HQ.
“It’s a real adrenaline rush,” said Karmel Arafeh, who made it to the top.
“It is a great day out. Obviously a lot of effort went into putting it together,” said the 38-year-old Abu Dhabi resident.
The Village also offers child-friendly activities, with Indian expatriates Sukarna Behera, 36 and his wife Nitasha, 28, taking their eight-year-old son Sathshree along on the opening day.
“I just want to play,” said Sathshree. “I want to do the kids’ activities.”
Other visitors took a more relaxed approach to the events on offer, and enjoyed the sunshine as they lay on bean bags by the water’s edge.
Rasha Shalaby, 30, and her husband Ahmed Hadad, 33, said they had stumbled upon the event by chance.
“We were at the mosque praying when we saw this,” said Mr Hadad, from Egypt.
The couple said that the beautiful weather, perfect for such an event, meant they would sample some of the activities on offer.
Danny Zephyrin, 30, of Yellow Boats tour company, encouraged visitors to try their “40 knot experience”, by the Corniche, which shows passengers what it is like to be on a sailing boat in rough water.
“We have had a lot of interest,” said Mr Zephyrin, from the Seychelles. “As the week goes on we expect to attract more visitors.”
Three of the fleet are expected to arrive in Abu Dhabi, from Cape Town, today.
The Village has proved as popular as ever, said Mohammed Al Zaabi, event co-ordinator with Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, which is hosting the Village.
“Friday morning we saw a steady stream of visitors, which picked up in the afternoon as people came to enjoy the waterfront setting, the sunshine and all the activities of the Village,” Mr Al Zaabi said.
“Popular attractions have been the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship chipping challenge, the Volvo Ocean Race ‘Another Day At The Office’ cinema, and the Heritage Village.”
The area has 22 exhibition pavilions and has six interactive zones covering culture and heritage, adventure, family, exhibitions, race teams, and the environment.
Children’s activities include a climbing wall, pump track for skaters and bikers, and watersports.
During its run, the Village is expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors and help to boost the capital’s international profile.
Opening hours are from noon to 9pm, Sunday to Wednesday, and 11am to midnight, Thursday to Saturday, until January 3. Entry is free.
jbell@thenational.ae
Tom Fletcher on 'soft power'
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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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.”
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The specs
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Engine: 6.2-litre V8
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What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.