The idea of joining a growth industry in today's global economy may seem like wishful thinking.
But in Abu Dhabi, government-backed firms are planning to create thousands of jobs in aerospace, including high-tech manufacturing and specialised engine maintenance.
The focus is to encourage Emiratis to take up blue-collar or highly technical engineering positions. Many companies are being built from scratch and are expected to attract workers of all professions, including accountants and sales and information technology managers.
The plans include an aerospace industrial zone opening in Al Ain late next year, where Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) is wooing European firms to relocate, and a host of projects by Mubadala Development Company, an investment arm of the Government.
Mubadala is opening Strata, a manufacturing plant for carbon-fibre aircraft parts in the zone. Ground was broken on the site late last month, and its new chief executive will be Ross Bradley, the former chief executive of the Farnborough Aerospace Consortium. Meanwhile, Mubadala's portfolio of aircraft and engine maintenance companies, including Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies and SR Technics, is expanding and starting joint ventures with Rolls-Royce, General Electric (GE) and other engine makers.
The eventual aim for Mubadala is to design, build and market a business jet from scratch by 2018; a feat that will need new companies to be formed, huge levels of investment and an army of designers, engineers and technicians.
Mubadala believes it will create 5,000 to 10,000 jobs over the next decade in aerospace. At Strata, which will use composite materials to build aerostructures for European aircraft makers Airbus and Alenia Aeronautica, among others, the company should have 800 employees by 2014, from technicians to engineering and management.
"What we are doing is 'greenfield'; bringing something entirely new to the economy of Abu Dhabi," says Homaid al Shemmari, the associate director of aerospace at Mubadala.
To lay the foundations for this project, Mubadala is telling the nation's youth that aerospace is a rewarding, challenging and exciting career choice, and encouraging them to enrol in science and engineering programs.
"We would like to have parents interested in putting their kids through engineering and science degrees to be able to create the pipeline we are looking for in our industry," Mr al Shemmari says.
ADAC officials are also very keen to generate jobs for locals through the new small and medium-sized technology firms that have already agreed to move to Al Ain, including German firms such as Aircraft Electronic Engineering, Aerotech Peissenberg and MT Aerospace.
Zeyad al Majed, a senior project adviser at ADAC, says he hopes the zone's tenants would help Emiratis build discipline and competency, but the zone will still be a "commercial environment that does not impose workforce quotas".
Officials also expect jobs will be created in the aircraft and engine maintenance business.
Mubadala is behind plans to greatly expand Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT), which is located at Abu Dhabi International Airport. The maintenance firm is growing rapidly and will perform new engine maintenance services after Mubadala signed an alliance with GE at the Paris Air Show last month.
It is also starting a joint venture along similar lines with Rolls-Royce, another leading jet engine maker. The ADAT is increasing its staff to service the future fleet of Etihad Airways, which will rise to 150 aircraft by the end of next decade from 50 today.
Mubadala is also planning to service military aircraft and is expected to announce a new Abu Dhabi maintenance business through a recent joint venture with Sikorsky Aerospace Services, based in the US.
The ambitious plans are good news for Ali Mallick, who plans to graduate next month from Emirates Aviation College in Dubai with a degree in aerospace engineering.
Mr Mallick says the current market for entry level technical and engineering jobs was difficult, but the developments in Abu Dhabi are encouraging him to look at further training.
"This gives more scope for guys like me who grew up here and are trying to join the aviation field," he says.
igale@thenational.ae
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
PSA DUBAI WORLD SERIES FINALS LINE-UP
Men’s:
Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY)
Ali Farag (EGY)
Simon Rosner (GER)
Tarek Momen (EGY)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Nick Matthew (ENG)
Women's:
Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Laura Massaro (ENG)
Joelle King (NZE)
Camille Serme (FRA)
Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
Take Me Apart
Kelela
(Warp)
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
T20 World Cup Qualifier
October 18 – November 2
Opening fixtures
Friday, October 18
ICC Academy: 10am, Scotland v Singapore, 2.10pm, Netherlands v Kenya
Zayed Cricket Stadium: 2.10pm, Hong Kong v Ireland, 7.30pm, Oman v UAE
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Darius D’Silva, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Junaid Siddique, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Waheed Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Zahoor Khan
Players out: Mohammed Naveed, Shaiman Anwar, Qadeer Ahmed
Players in: Junaid Siddique, Darius D’Silva, Waheed Ahmed
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UFC Fight Night 2
1am – Early prelims
2am – Prelims
4am-7am – Main card
7:30am-9am – press cons
How to come clean about financial infidelity
- Be honest and transparent: It is always better to own up than be found out. Tell your partner everything they want to know. Show remorse. Inform them of the extent of the situation so they know what they are dealing with.
- Work on yourself: Be honest with yourself and your partner and figure out why you did it. Don’t be ashamed to ask for professional help.
- Give it time: Like any breach of trust, it requires time to rebuild. So be consistent, communicate often and be patient with your partner and yourself.
- Discuss your financial situation regularly: Ensure your spouse is involved in financial matters and decisions. Your ability to consistently follow through with what you say you are going to do when it comes to money can make all the difference in your partner’s willingness to trust you again.
- Work on a plan to resolve the problem together: If there is a lot of debt, for example, create a budget and financial plan together and ensure your partner is fully informed, involved and supported.
Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
Manchester United v Liverpool
Premier League, kick off 7.30pm (UAE)
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: seven-speed PDK dual clutch automatic
Power: 375bhp
Torque: 520Nm
Price: Dh332,800
On sale: now
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster with a decades-long career in TV. He has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others. Karam is also the founder of Takreem.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
