RAK Gateway opens

The first phase of Gateway City in Ras al Khaimah, will go on sale in Dubai this Saturday.

Nathalie Gillet

July 09, 2008

  • English
  • Arabic

The first phase of Gateway City, which will house 500,000 people in Ras al Khaimah, will go on sale in Dubai this Saturday. The emirate is planning to build the new city on Emirates Road near the entrance to the city of Ras al Khaimah. Gateway City will eventually stretch over 50 million square feet and house about twice the total current population of the emirate. The new residential and commercial development will be built close to a large Dh1 billion (US$272.2 million) convention and exhibition centre that Rakeen, the property arm of the Ras al Khaimah government, revealed plans for in early May. On the centre's promotional brochures investors could glimpse the outlines of the future skyscrapers that would one day tower over Gateway City.

With Saturday's launch, the "city in a city" is slowly becoming reality. The first phase, which will cover 13.5 million sq ft and house about 150,000 people, will include "a huge souk area with the Grand Central Mosque, surrounded by two large commercial centres and several residential areas", said Maqbul Mohmed, the director of Yes Property Investment, a Dubai-based investor and developer that is in charge of the first phase of building.

"There will be 10 iconic buildings and the focal point of the whole project will be the huge RAK conference centre on the other side of the road", he said. Mr Maqbul added that the project could be built over five or six stages, with the first stage lasting about three years. Yes intended to sell 400 plots of the initial phase to developers and speculators for about Dh4bn, he said. "We have already had a big number of commitments but the official confirmations will be on Saturday."

The ground-clearing work for the project began two months ago. It is one of 30 that are underway or in the planning stage in Ras al Khaimah. The industrial zone has been increasingly drawing investment and construction activity as the possibility of purchasing freehold property has made the emirate an attractive alternative to Dubai. Sale prices in Ras Al Khaimah, however, are rising quickly. RAK properties, the emirate's other major developer, sold units in the Mina al Arab development at Dh1,200 per sq ft in May, compared to Dh600 per sq ft for the same property last year.

@Email:ngillet@thenational.ae

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Sun jukebox

Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)

This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.

Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)

The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.

Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)

Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.

Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)

Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.

Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)

An essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison.

Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)

Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs.

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea
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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.

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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.

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“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.”

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New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.

“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.

The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.

The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.

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