In the world of finance, a J Curve is a trendline in which an initial loss is immediately followed by a dramatic gain. I often think of this phenomenon when I think of the formation of the United Arab Emirates. Back in 1968 when the founding fathers of the country came together to discuss the establishment of the union, they understood that in order for this proposed federation to work they would each have to compromise: an initial loss for a dramatic gain. For instance, prior to the federation some emirates enjoyed close relations with certain countries in the region while others viewed these countries with a degree of suspicion. Within weeks, their foreign policies had to be aligned and, as in other situations, they agreed to compromise.
It is hard to believe how far the UAE has come. As a child, I recall the goals of the union, the foremost of which were a good standard of living, the eradication of illiteracy and even the planting of trees (Iraq was the standard for us). Fifty years on, our goals are astronomical, both figuratively and literally.
Even my own family's journey mirrors that of the UAE. Today I sit in my office at Harvard Kennedy School as the Fall 2021 Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar, aware of having been born to a woman, Nama bint Majid, who was the first Emirati teacher in a formal education system (along with her lifelong friend Ms Amna Al Hajeri) at a time when education was scarce throughout the Gulf. In various walks of life, the UAE seems to have taken giant leaps, whether it has been in the growing number of women ambassadors, parliamentarians (albeit not universally elected) and judges, the numerous cultural and educational institutions or the diversified and vibrant economy.
I also recognise how lucky I was to have come of age during the era of Sheikh Zayed, with all the promise it held. We really did feel we had a father figure in him. But what next for this federation that is today 50 years young? At the recent Abu Dhabi Strategic Debate, Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the President, Sheikh Khalifa, said that the UAE spends more time thinking about what the next 50 years will look like than it does thinking about the past 50 years. Perhaps the UAE’s Vision 2071 is a manifestation of this forward thinking. However, I do hope that the younger generation will look both forward and back, and learn the lessons of the past, including the hardships and the compromises that resulted in a greater good. My personal wish going forward is to see a more vibrant press with an elevated public discourse . Perhaps it is due to age, or maybe experience, but I have come to concur with the "gradual course" the UAE has promised, seeing as the trajectory is positive.
I hope the younger generation will learn the lessons of the past, including the compromises that resulted in a greater good
Since 2017, I, a person from a country whose oldest university was only established in 1976, have been fortunate to teach at a number of American higher-education institutions, and I have come to recognise even more than I did before that knowledge is the ultimate wealth. At these educational institutions, I try to be a good ambassador for the UAE and reflect its values of openness and Arab hospitality. This country has given me so much, and yet I still want more for it.
In many cases the students I encounter are headhunted by prestigious firms even while they are still at university, not for what they have achieved in their professional lives but for the potential that they hold. This is what the UAE's next 50 years could be about: not only identifying people who are already successful and enticing them to relocate to the country, but also recognising the potential of those who could be and would be the dreamers of the future. The introduction of golden visas for top-performing high school students is a welcome step in that direction.
Today, the UAE is more than merely a country of 10 million inhabitants. It has transformed, thanks to its own people and the many millions of non-citizens who have worked here over the past five decades, into a vibrant land of opportunities and the gateway to the region and beyond. It is now the standard by which success is measured throughout the region and the country that others try to emulate, which is perhaps the greatest compliment that can be paid to it. It is no small feat, and we all have much to be proud of. We must also not allow ourselves to be complacent, as competition abounds from near and far, and, as in any race, all eyes are set towards those who are in the lead.
The next 50 years will likely be more challenging, as we try to balance between embracing the world and safeguarding our identity, between growth and sustainability and between freedoms and security. But we must have faith and learn to compromise. That is what our own history teaches us: an initial loss for a dramatic gain.
Match info
Manchester City 3 (Jesus 22', 50', Sterling 69')
Everton 1 (Calvert-Lewin 65')
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KEY%20DATES%20IN%20AMAZON'S%20HISTORY
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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
UAE SQUAD
Ahmed Raza (Captain), Rohan Mustafa, Jonathan Figy, CP Rizwan, Junaid Siddique, Mohammad Usman, Basil Hameed, Zawar Farid, Vriitya Aravind (WK), Waheed Ahmed, Karthik Meiyappan, Zahoor Khan, Darius D'Silva, Chirag Suri
RESULT
Wolves 1 (Traore 67')
Tottenham 2 (Moura 8', Vertonghen 90 1')
Man of the Match: Adama Traore (Wolves)
Honeymoonish
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PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
Sour%20Grapes
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Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press
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
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Results
Men's finals
45kg:Duc Le Hoang (VIE) beat Zolfi Amirhossein (IRI) points 29-28. 48kg: Naruephon Chittra (THA) beat Joseph Vanlalhruaia (IND) TKO round 2.
51kg: Sakchai Chamchit (THA) beat Salam Al Suwaid (IRQ) TKO round 1. 54kg: Veerasak Senanue (THA) beat Huynh Hoang Phi (VIE) 30-25.
57kg: Almaz Sarsembekov (KAZ) beat Tak Chuen Suen (MAC) RSC round 3. 60kg: Yerkanat Ospan (KAZ) beat Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) 30-27.
63.5kg: Abil Galiyev (KAZ) beat Nouredine Samir (UAE) 29-28. 67kg: Narin Wonglakhon (THA) beat Mohammed Mardi (UAE) 29-28.
71kg: Amine El Moatassime (UAE) w/o Shaker Al Tekreeti (IRQ). 75kg: Youssef Abboud (LBN) w/o Ayoob Saki (IRI).
81kg: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) beat Khaled Tarraf (LBN) 29-28. 86kg: Ali Takaloo (IRI) beat Emil Umayev (KAZ) 30-27.
91kg: Hamid Reza Kordabadi (IRI) beat Mohamad Osaily (LBN) RSC round 1. 91-plus kg: Mohammadrezapoor Shirmohammad (IRI) beat Abdulla Hasan (IRQ) 30-27.
Women's finals
45kg: Somruethai Siripathum (THA) beat Ha Huu Huynh (VIE) 30-27. 48kg: Thanawan Thongduang (THA) beat Colleen Saddi (PHI) 30-27.
51kg: Wansawang Srila Or (THA) beat Thuy Phuong Trieu (VIE) 29-28. 54kg: Ruchira Wongsriwo (THA) beat Zeinab Khatoun (LBN) 30-26.
57kg: Sara Idriss (LBN) beat Zahra Nasiri Bargh (IRI) 30-27. 60kg: Kaewrudee Kamtakrapoom (THA) beat Sedigheh Hajivand (IRI) TKO round 2.
63.5kg: Nadiya Moghaddam (IRI) w/o Reem Al Issa (JOR).
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE%20HOLDOVERS
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UK%20-%20UAE%20Trade
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Company%20Profile
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
FIXTURES
Monday, January 28
Iran v Japan, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Tuesday, January 29
UAEv Qatar, Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Friday, February 1
Final, Zayed Sports City Stadium (6pm)
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
