Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan attends a session during the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. AFP
Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan attends a session during the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. AFP
Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan attends a session during the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. AFP
Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan attends a session during the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. AFP

MENA

Palestine-Israel

Saudi Foreign Minister says no Israel ties until path to a Palestinian state

'Credible, irreversible' process needed to create Palestinian state, Prince Faisal bin Farhan says

The National

January 21, 2024

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Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza

Saudi Arabia will not establish diplomatic ties with Israel unless the Palestinian issue is resolved first, the kingdom's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

“In order for the region to see true peace, to see true stability and to see real integration that delivers economic and social benefits for all of us, including Israel, is through peace, through a credible, irreversible process to a Palestine state,” Prince Faisal told CNN.

“We are fully ready. Not just Saudi Arabia, but as Arab countries, to engage in that conversation. I would hope that the Israelis would be as well, but it's up to them to make that decision.”

When asked to clarify if there could be no normal ties without a path to a credible and irreversible Palestinian state, Prince Faisal said: “That's the only way we're going to get a benefit. So, yes.”

The interview, recorded at last week’s World Economic Forum held in Davos, comes as the civilian death toll in Gaza continues to soar.

The Health Ministry in Gaza said on Sunday that more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 62,000 wounded in Israel's assault since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Israel's air and ground offensive has also destroyed large areas of the small coastal enclave, and displaced most of its 2.3 million population.

“What we are seeing is the Israelis are crushing Gaza, the civilian population of Gaza,” Prince Faisal said. “This is completely unnecessary, completely unacceptable and has to stop.”

Asked if Saudi Arabia would be willing to finance post-war reconstruction in Gaza, Prince Faisal said this depended on the prospects for lasting peace.

“As long as we’re able to find a pathway to a solution, a resolution, a pathway that means that we’re not going to be here again in a year or two, then we can talk about anything,” he said.

“But if we are just resetting to the status quo before October 7, in a way that sets us up for another round of this, as we have seen in the past, we’re not interested in that conversation.”

The Palestinians seek a state that would include Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israel views all of Jerusalem as its capital and the West Bank as the historical and biblical heartland of the Jewish people. It has built scores of settlements across both territories that are home to hundreds of thousands of Jewish settlers. The last of several rounds of peace talks broke down nearly 15 years ago.

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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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With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”

A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.

“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”

 

 

Updated: January 25, 2024, 7:41 AM
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