The United Arab Emirates and the United States launched an inaugural strategic dialogue on Tuesday by signing a memorandum of understanding.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash and US ambassador to the UAE John Rakolta Jr concluded the virtual launch of the strategic dialogue by signing the memorandum.
The memorandum focuses on enhancing UAE-US ties in eight key areas: politics, defence, law enforcement and border security, intelligence and counterterrorism, human rights, economics, culture and academics as well as space.
“The Trump administration prioritises this relationship so highly because our two peoples have demonstrated how much we can accomplish together – not just talk but action,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said before the signing.
“We, of course, remain engaged on a number of regional issues, including healing the rifts among Arab Gulf partners and advancing the cause of peace in Libya and Yemen.”
Mr Pompeo thanked the UAE for closely supporting the Trump administration’s Iran policies.
“We stand together on the international stage to counter the greatest destructive force in the Middle East: the Iranian regime,” said Mr Pompeo.
“I want to personally thank the UAE for its support of our maximum pressure campaign, which has denied Tehran access to weapons valued more than $70 million. We’re grateful for their help to hold the regime accountable at the United Nations.”
A decade-old UN arms embargo on Iran expired on Sunday despite US attempts to convince the Security Council to extend it.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed touted a 2009 civil nuclear agreement with the US – widely considered the “gold standard” agreement by nonproliferation experts – and contrasted it with Iran’s nuclear programme.
“We look at the nuclear concern of all of us in Iran, and we believe that the nuclear gold standard should be applied on Iran as well,” said Sheikh Abdullah.
"I hope that such a gold standard will remind us that this could be another moment of a gold standard of a relationship between the UAE and the United States.”
As the dialogue occurred in the run-up to the US election on November 3, US State Department Spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus was at pains to stress the positive relationship was bipartisan.
"It is important to note that the US-UAE relationship has never been defined by a single political party in the United States, it is deep and goes across both political parties in Washington," Ms Ortagus told The National on Tuesday.
But the US official argued that when Mr Trump came to office, the administration chose a different strategic approach to the Middle East from its predecessor the Obama administration.
“We did not feel that giving billions of dollars in sanctions relief to Iran would change their unchecked behaviour…so we sought a different approach to empower the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf partners and to empower the state of Israel.” The former Obama administration refutes the claim that it handed Iran billions of dollars through sanctions relief following the nuclear deal.
The inaugural US-UAE strategic dialogue came as US officials accompanied Emirati ministers to Israel to sign a series of separate deals on Tuesday as part of the Washington-brokered Abraham Accord, which lay the groundwork to normalise UAE-Israeli relations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu greeted UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq and Minister of State for Financial Affairs Obaid Al Tayer at Ben Gurion Airport. US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and the White House’s Israeli-Palestinian peace envoy, Avi Berkowitz, accompanied them.
The new UAE-Israel deals include visa-free travel and a $3 billion private sector investment fund.
Ms Ortagus said while the timing is not related to the signing of Abraham Accords related agreements in Israel also happening on Tuesday, they reflect the progress in the relationship.
“They’re two separate events although there has been such important progress in the relationship that everything seems to be coming along at the same time.”
Ms Ortagus said the strategic dialogue is an important opportunity to capitalise on the changing dynamics in the region and brings focus on the long term relationship for a “top tier ally.”
“With the UAE in particular, [the strategic dialogue] allows us to focus on the depth of the relationship…there is always talk about the military and security sides which is prolific but what gets overlooked is that we have eight different areas in the dialogue as a new framework for co-operation,” Ms Ortagus said.
She mentioned space exploration, human rights and economics as new growing fields of cooperation. The UAE built a mission to Mars and sent its first astronaut Hazza Al Mansoori and Sultan Al Neyadi to space in 2019 and 2020.
Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
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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Barcelona 4 (Suarez 27', Vidal 32', Dembele 35', Messi 78')
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Date Started: September 2018
Founders: Walid and Karim Dib
Based: Abu Dhabi
Employees: Nine
Amount raised: $1.2 million
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, AB Accelerator, 500 Startups, private backers
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Top goalscorers in Europe
34 goals - Robert Lewandowski (68 points)
34 - Ciro Immobile (68)
31 - Cristiano Ronaldo (62)
28 - Timo Werner (56)
25 - Lionel Messi (50)
*29 - Erling Haaland (50)
23 - Romelu Lukaku (46)
23 - Jamie Vardy (46)
*NOTE: Haaland's goals for Salzburg count for 1.5 points per goal. Goals for Dortmund count for two points per goal.
