Formula One and international racing officials said yesterday they had been assured by Bahraini authorities that measures had been taken to ensure the safety of competitors and spectators at this weekend's Grand Prix.
The announcement by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (Fia) and Formula One management (Fom) came as practice sessions at the Sakhir race circuit got under way, and opponents and critics of the Bahraini government marched in the capital 30 kilometres away to highlight their pro-reform demands.
The two organisations said they had received assurances from Bahraini authorities that security "will be guaranteed for all participants".
"The FIA and FOM also strongly believe that sport can often be a force for good and that the staging of the Grand Prix in Bahrain will come some way in helping soothe some of the issues which have been raised in the media," the statement added.
In calling for demonstrations, the largest opposition bloc, the Shiite group Al Wefaq, said they were intended to "reflect popular demands for a transition towards a true democracy".
Thousands of protestors joined a march yesterday afternoon on Budaiya motorway, which is the primary route to many Shiite villages.
Controversy has swirled around the F1 race since early 2011, when pro-reform demonstrations inspired by the Arab Spring drew hundreds of thousands of Bahrainis to the capital's city centre. Security concerns forced the cancellation of that year's race, but the annual event resumed last year.
This year, security forces have largely confined demonstrators to their villages, preventing them from rallying in central Manama, an opposition member said. "It's been impossible to get to the capital," said Ala'a Shehabi.
Bahrain's government has argued that one motivation for restarting the race is the country's economy, which suffered heavy losses after the unrest in 2011. The tourism sector in particular was heavily hit as hotels went unoccupied and visitors cancelled their trips.
On Thursday, the Bahrain state news agency said that hotel and tourism operators had reported "that the occupancy rates of the majority of hotels and hospitality institutions have reached their highest", because of the race.
"Formula One has placed Bahrain on [the] world map, and made it an attraction destination on the occasion of the global event, which has economic returns for Bahrain," the state news agency quoted Mubarak bin Ahmed Al Fadel, governor of Bahrain's central governorate, as saying.
There was no consensus among government opponents over whether this year's race should be held.
Some say the festive mood of race weekend trivialises the political and human-rights problems Bahrain faces, while others say it is an opportunity to call attention to those problems at a time when outsiders flood the island and international attention is focused on it.
While Al Wefaq did not urge its cancellation, a youth coalition calling itself February 14 lit tires and blocked roads across Manama and outlying Shiite villages yesterday, saying on its Facebook page that the protests illustrated a "popular rejection" of the event.
With so many journalists covering the race, "they will see what's happening in Bahrain", said Ali, a 30-year-old opposition supporter and former employee of the Sakhir circuit. He said he was sacked at the height of the unrest in 2011 and, unlike many other workers, has not been rehired.
"But in another way, the government here wants to show that nothing is happening in Bahrain," he said.
"So for me, I can't approve of the race this year."
edickinson@thenational.ae
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
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Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
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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.”
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