DUBAI // Nato mine-hunting ships arrived at Jebel Ali port yesterday for a week-long visit to bolster ties with the UAE.
The visit builds on a co-operation agreement that Nato signed with four Gulf states in 2005, called the Istanbul Convention Initiative (ICI). The partnerships were driven by increasingly shared concerns such as Afghanistan, Iran and the safe transport of oil and gas through the Gulf.
"Minesweeping is absolutely important because [of threats] to close Hormuz in any confrontation … as happened in the Iran-Iraq war," said Mustafa Alani, director of defence and security studies at the Gulf Research Centre.
"One of the things you need is anti-mining capability," he said, adding that it is vital for a navy to "send a message" that if posed with the menace of mines, it "can deal with it".
The Nato force in UAE waters comprises of about 400 crew on five ships - a flagship frigate with a helicopter and four smaller minehunting vessels, all belonging to the Standing Nato Mine Counter-Measures Group 2.
The group's tour of the four ICI nations began in late January with stops at Bahrain and Kuwait, and will finish in early May with Qatar, said spokesman Lt Giampiero Sanna.
While here it will conduct one day of basic exercises with small UAE boats in communication - practising giving directions in code - and maritime manoeuvres.
The two sides will also hold meetings - and play a friendly game of football.
"We are here to interact with the countries of the ICI in order to promote them and foster military co-operation," said Lt Sanna.
The UAE has two minesweepers, which deploy high-frequency sonars to identify suspicious objects under water. Once one is located, either a diver or a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) will swim near it to determine if it is dangerous.
If so, the minesweeper will "neutralise" the mine, often by setting off an explosion nearby.
Their missions are successful 99 per cent of the time, said Lt Sanna.
The visit comes after the UAE deepened its security ties with Nato last month by sending 12 warplanes to help police the Libyan no-fly zone headed by the western military alliance.
For several years the UAE has deployed special forces to Afghanistan to assist the Nato-led effort.
It provides a base or facilities for French, British, American and other nations conducting anti-Taliban operations in Afghanistan and counter-piracy operations in the Arabian Sea.
Emirati forces also participated in the Balkans conflict in the 1990s, and in de-mining work in Lebanon more recently.
During a visit to Abu Dhabi in October 2009 to discuss the ICI, the Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen praised the UAE's assistance abroad.
"For many years the United Arab Emirates has shown a strong determination to be a provider of security well beyond the Gulf region … and we look forward to building upon that common effort," he said in a speech.
The Emirati military has in turn acquired Nato expertise and experience, as well as substantial weapons sales, largely from the US and France. The UAE had the world's fourth-highest arms purchases from 2005 to 2009, with US$6.5 billion (Dh22bn), according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks the industry.
"The current relationship is a good one that works well on both sides,” said Justin Crump, a UK-based security analyst. "Both would probably like slightly deeper ties."
chuang@thenational.ae
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Volunteers offer workers a lifeline
Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.
When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.
Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.
Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.
“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.
Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.
“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.
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A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
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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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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
