"Welcome to the land of beauty and opportunity". These are the words that give passengers pause when leaving their aircraft at Muscat's International Airport.
More than just a phrase projected on a grey wall, the statement rang true on Saturday when a meeting between long-term rivals turned into an opportunity for peace in the region.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led a delegation while US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff headed another. It could have been a recipe for grave disappointment. Still, the meeting offered room for hope after the two sides agreed, following indirect talks and an unexpected brief encounter, to continue negotiations on a new nuclear agreement.
Both sides got what they wanted. Iran insisted that talks would be done indirectly with Oman as the mediator. This came after US President Donald Trump, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his side, announced that the US would hold direct meetings with Iran.
"So, the Iranians got their indirect opening. The Americans got the direct engagement. And the scoping exercise appears to have given both just enough to return to capitals with a scheduled resumption," said think tank Crisis Group's Iran project director Ali Vaez.
Signs of openness, but also threats, have preceded the negotiations, the first between a Trump administration eager for a quick deal and an Iranian leadership determined to show the country is not yet at its weakest point, despite the heavy blows it and its proxies have endured in the past 18 months.
With only a few months to go before Termination Day comes in October for the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that was agreed to by former US president Barack Obama, the pressure is on for Iran to comply with an agreement before more sanctions hit.
This time, the faces were new, the atmosphere different, and the stakes for the region are higher than ever if de-escalation and containment are not made immediate priorities. The good news, experts say, is that in today’s climate, the chances of reaching at least a preliminary agreement are higher than before.
Bright atmosphere
In this shifting atmosphere, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian struck a different tone on Wednesday, extending a welcome to US investors, marking a departure from the combative rhetoric typically directed at Tehran’s chief adversaries. On the other side, US deputy special envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus told The National in an interview that the Trump administration is packed with officials focused on “deliverables” and “outcomes”.
Before heading to Oman, Mr Witkoff told the Wall Street Journal there would be room for compromise, even though the US's goal is for the complete dismantlement of Iran's nuclear programme.
And in just under three hours, the atmosphere in Oman was already brighter.
"I would like to thank my two colleagues for this engagement which took place in a friendly atmosphere conducive to bridging viewpoints and ultimately achieving regional and global peace, security and stability," Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi wrote on X, just after the talks concluded.
The positive indications by both parties were seen even by observers such as senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Holly Dagres, who also noted that so far, it had been Iran who had been on top of the messaging.
"Both sides appeared, at least via their rhetoric, interested in getting to a deal in recent weeks."
Oman, known for its delicacies and track record for being a place of choice for difficult conversations, may have hit a sweet spot for the US and Iran, giving both sides just enough to feel optimistic about a future agreement.
It remains to be seen whether the talks, announced by Iran to resume a week later, will yield the same positive outcomes.
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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Saudi Arabia – 103 infected, 0 dead, 1 recovered
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White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
