The UAE hopes the nuclear talks under way in Vienna between Iran and world powers will succeed and wants to see a follow-up process of regional dialogue, Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to President Sheikh Khalifa, said on Thursday.
“We have our eyes on the JCPOA process,” Dr Gargash said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal name for the nuclear deal.
“We want to see a successful process … but we are hoping that process will also lead to some sort of agreement on a dialogue that involves more countries and that track in itself will also help in cementing this vision that we [the UAE] are trying to propagate of stability and prosperity in the region.”
Speaking to the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, Dr Gargash did not support the imposition of additional Iran sanctions if talks fail.
"I don't see further sanctions as a solution ...There are already enough sanctions on Iran," he said.
Earlier on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported the US is considering tightening economic sanctions if no compromise is reached in Vienna.
“Diplomacy is the way forward but at the same time, we don't have much time because there is real concern … about what happens on the nuclear side,” Dr Gargash said, calling on Iran to show more flexibility in the talks.
The senior Emirati official said Tehran could do more on regional issues, especially when it comes to a ceasefire in Yemen.
“From everything we hear, there is very little Iranian pressure on the Houthis towards a ceasefire,” he said.
With a new atmosphere of dialogue in the region, Iran should recognise the “new environment and be more productive in the region, whether that position is in Yemen or whether it is in Lebanon and Iraq".
Dr Gargash hailed bilateral ties with the US, calling Washington the UAE's “number one strategic ally".
As to the US position in the Middle East, he said Washington must strive for a balance between enabling its regional allies to work together while also avoiding long conflicts.
“We have no interest in embroiling America in another conflict like Afghanistan and Iraq … we have no interest in pursuing another long war in the region — in fact, our interest is trying to avoid it at all costs, even by trying to manoeuvre a very tense situation,” he said.
He warned, however, of dire consequences if the US were to disengage with the Middle East — a prospect he considered unlikely.
“If the United States decides to completely pull out of the region … it means the two concerns that we have are going to be problematic: one of them is [creating] vacuums and the other one is escalation. We need to avoid vacuums and we need to avoid escalation,” Dr Gargash said.
He also voiced concern over growing US-China competition.
“We are worried that there is a fine line between this acute competition and the new Cold War. We as a small state will be affected negatively by this, but we will not really have the ability to in any way affect this,” he said.
Dr Gargash framed the UAE’s diplomatic overtures to Turkey, Iran, Syria, the GCC and Israel as part of a bold reset in its approach to regional issues.
“It is important to manage these differences and divergent views and buttress other areas of co-operation,” he said.
Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
%3Cp%3E-%20Diriyah%E2%80%99s%201.9km%20King%20Salman%20Boulevard%2C%20a%20Parisian%20Champs-Elysees-inspired%20avenue%2C%20is%20scheduled%20for%20completion%20in%202028%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20The%20Royal%20Diriyah%20Opera%20House%20is%20expected%20to%20be%20completed%20in%20four%20years%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20Diriyah%E2%80%99s%20first%20of%2042%20hotels%2C%20the%20Bab%20Samhan%20hotel%2C%20will%20open%20in%20the%20first%20quarter%20of%202024%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20On%20completion%20in%202030%2C%20the%20Diriyah%20project%20is%20forecast%20to%20accommodate%20more%20than%20100%2C000%20people%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20The%20%2463.2%20billion%20Diriyah%20project%20will%20contribute%20%247.2%20billion%20to%20the%20kingdom%E2%80%99s%20GDP%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20It%20will%20create%20more%20than%20178%2C000%20jobs%20and%20aims%20to%20attract%20more%20than%2050%20million%20visits%20a%20year%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20About%202%2C000%20people%20work%20for%20the%20Diriyah%20Company%2C%20with%20more%20than%2086%20per%20cent%20being%20Saudi%20citizens%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Nayla%20Al%20Khaja%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Jefferson%20Hall%2C%20Faten%20Ahmed%2C%20Noura%20Alabed%2C%20Saud%20Alzarooni%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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.”
Race results:
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2. Peter Morin (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team: 0.91sec
3. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team: 31.43sec
Abandon
Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay
Translated by Arunava Sinha
Tilted Axis Press
