ABU DHABI //The bad news is, hundreds of small grocery shops that failed to comply with new standards have closed down.
The good news is that consumers and shopkeepers alike are hailing the new-look baqala groceries as a breath of fresh air – in some cases, quite literally.
"Everything is new – new fridge, new freezer, new shelves. I like it," said Abdul Muneer, from India, who was doing a brisk trade at his Abu Sultan baqala in the Tanker Mai area of Abu Dhabi.
The shop reopened a month ago after four months and Dh150,000 of work, including an extension. "Before, I had one door, now, I have two doors. I have space for a lot of shelves. Customers like it."
Shops were originally given a January 1 deadline by Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority to meet the new baqala requirements, which include better refrigeration, shelving and decor.
A stay of execution was granted when the registration deadline was extended until March 6, and shops had until today for the work to be completed.
Mr Muneer was unable to do the work in time for the first deadline because of a financial problem.
"It was good to have time because I saved money and it was not rushed," he said. Trade, he says, has increased since the refurbishment.
Finishing touches were being applied last week in the Dh60,000 makeover at the nearby Abdualrahman Musan Supermarket in Tanker Mai.
"I opened it three years ago so I just had to change the floor and the ceiling and add CCTV. Now there is more space because the shelves have been organised," said Hanif Abdulrahman, 24, from India, whose father owns the business.
The shop closed at the end of last year because the changes had not been made in time for the first deadline. Mr Abdulrahman heard about the extension when travelling.
"I am happy because if they did not give the new deadline, I would not be here," he said. The work took two months to complete and the shop reopened last Sunday.
Sulaiman Mahmood, manager of Warsam baqala, has a new uniform along with other staff at the new-look shop, also in Tanker Mai.
It closed from December to May for the work, which included an extension.
Customer Moad Ahmed, 28, from Jordan, is pleased with the result. "I like the changes. It's better. I'm glad that they brought in the new standards," he said.
"Customers like the new store," said Shareef Moosa, from India, who works at Blue Ruby near Muroor Road. It opened in February after a Dh110,000 refurbishment that took two months.
"There were six groceries in the area but now there are two," he said.
The Food Control Authority said last month that 71 per cent of groceries had made renovations or applied to do so. Now that the final deadline has passed, there will be a survey to establish how many groceries had been upgraded.
"The groceries that have failed to upgrade will go out of business. This was made amply clear right at the beginning," said Mohamed Jalal Al Rayssi, spokesman for the joint committee of Abu Dhabi government bodies overseeing the grocery upgrade programme.
"The rules that apply to businesses without proper licences and documents will apply to the groceries that function beyond the deadline of June 30 without implementing the necessary changes," he said.
Mr Al Rayssi said the committee was happy with the new-look groceries and the changes brought about in the retail sector, in terms of business dynamics, visual appeal and customer friendliness.
"We will not be exaggerating when we say groceries have now been brought on par with the best anywhere in the world," he said. "They are now run more professionally, the consumers are better protected and they look much more elegant, clean and appealing."
The changes were aimed at bringing benefits to consumers, owners, operators and neighbourhoods, Mr Al Rayssi said.
"The groceries in the emirate functioned for decades in the old mould without making any changes, discomfiting the consumers on the one hand and raising serious questions of food safety on the other. This had to change."
More companies and other types of supermarkets are also expected to open soon.
"It is an attractive business sector and the changes have made it much more attractive. We are confident the groceries sector will see the arrival of many new players in the next few months," Mr Al Rayssi said.
ecleland@thenational.ae
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.”
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
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About Krews
Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: January 2019
Number of employees: 10
Sector: Technology/Social media
Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support
The bio:
Favourite film:
Declan: It was The Commitments but now it’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Heidi: The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Favourite holiday destination:
Declan: Las Vegas but I also love getting home to Ireland and seeing everyone back home.
Heidi: Australia but my dream destination would be to go to Cuba.
Favourite pastime:
Declan: I love brunching and socializing. Just basically having the craic.
Heidi: Paddleboarding and swimming.
Personal motto:
Declan: Take chances.
Heidi: Live, love, laugh and have no regrets.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Rooney's club record
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
The specs
Engine: 2.3-litre, turbo four-cylinder
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Power: 300hp
Torque: 420Nm
Price: Dh189,900
On sale: now
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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
THREE
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Company profile
Name: Tratok Portal
Founded: 2017
Based: UAE
Sector: Travel & tourism
Size: 36 employees
Funding: Privately funded
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
World Cricket League Division 2
In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.
UAE fixtures
Thursday February 8, v Kenya; Friday February 9, v Canada; Sunday February 11, v Nepal; Monday February 12, v Oman; Wednesday February 14, v Namibia; Thursday February 15, final
