HIROSHIMA // Middle East countries were urged on Saturday to make the region free of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction.
The call came at a meeting of the member states of the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative, of which the UAE is one. The initiative was launched in 2010 to support implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“The UAE is an active member of international initiatives promoting non-proliferating efforts,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, the Minister of State.
“Our non-proliferation credentials are well recognised within the international community and the UAE remains committed to the treaty and to working with our international partners to promote its full implementation.”
The 12 countries in the initiative also called for greater transparency to ensure global disarmament by nuclear-weapon states. Information about nuclear forces was of great importance to them to be able to verify nuclear disarmament, they said.
“Without transparency, Non-Proliferation Treaty states do not have complete confidence that nuclear disarmament measures have been accomplished in an irreversible manner.”
The Non-Proliferation Treaty is reviewed every five years. The next review is due next year, and a preparatory committee for the review begins meeting in New York at the end of this month.
Saturday’s meeting urged the nuclear-weapon states to use an agreed standard reporting form to report their disarmament undertakings to that committee.
They called on nuclear powers to submit “further substantive, timely and meaningful reports” on their nuclear disarmament. Their engagement in nuclear disarmament is essential, said Hamad Alkaabi, the UAE ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, “to understand their progress, to inform them of the expectations from non-nuclear weapons states and to help this process through proposals and ideas”. The initiative countries issued six new working papers, which focus on nuclear disarmament, increased transparency, de-alerting, nuclear security and a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction.
“The outcome document is a balanced one reflecting NPDI countries’ priorities, including addressing non-proliferation concerns and NPDI views to advance implementation of the treaty,” said Mr Alkaabi. “The next important step is to focus on the success of the next NPT Review Conference in 2015 through contributions and leadership.”
Participating countries urged nuclear powers to take responsibility and rid the world of nuclear weapons. “We made realistic and practical measures towards a world without nuclear weapons,” said the Japanese foreign minister, Fumio Kishida.
“The nuclear situation has to be watched very carefully so that it does not take a turn for the worse. The situation in Ukraine has bearings on the future activities of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation so we have to watch it carefully.”
Countries also stressed the need for a reduction of all types of nuclear weapons. “Nuclear powers should act before other powers,” said Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister. “Those who are members of the NPDI will work very hard but, at the end of the day, the engagement and a clear objective of nuclear powers are very important to stop humanitarian disasters.”
The countries also called for a treaty to ban the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, with all states possessing nuclear weapons to declare and maintain a moratorium on the production of the material for such use.
“We’re committed to remove nuclear weapons from international security but this can only happen if steps are taken by all sides,” said Frans Timmermans, the Dutch foreign minister.
“Our effort is to make sure that we engage nuclear powers to continue their talks on nuclear disarmament but we need to take it in a step-by-step approach,” he said.
“Our appeal is ... that they take their responsibility to rid the world of nuclear weapons.”
The 12 countries in the initiative are the UAE, Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, the Philippines, Poland and Turkey.
cmalek@thenational.ae
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
The National's picks
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
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Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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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Asia Cup 2018 Qualifier
Sunday's results:
- UAE beat Malaysia by eight wickets
- Nepal beat Singapore by four wickets
- Oman v Hong Kong, no result
Tuesday fixtures:
- Malaysia v Singapore
- UAE v Oman
- Nepal v Hong Kong
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
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Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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.
