DUBAI // "With these prices I think everyone will use the Metro," said Yohash Kherajan yesterday. "I was expecting them to be around Dh15, but the maximum, Dh6.50, is an excellent price. I will be using it to get to and from work."
The 30-year-old, who works in Deira but lives in Bur Dubai, was one of many residents who said the newly announced Metro prices had convinced them to use it once it opens in September.
Short journeys on the Red Line will cost only Dh2 - and as little as 90 fils for students and the elderly, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said.
Ellen Rodriguez, 40, currently takes the bus to her job at the Burjuman Centre and said she would continue to do so. However, she said she would use the Metro to go further afield.
"The price of the Metro is very good, especially to travel a long distance, like Jebel Ali," she said.
"So as long as it is not more expensive than the bus, then yes I will use it - although it also depends on where the Metro stop is. The bus is very convenient at the moment."
Marie De La Cruz, 34, said that while the prices seemed reasonable, she would like to see the Metro running all day and night. The RTA has not yet released information about operating times. "If it was 24 hours, then those who work late at night somewhere like Dubai Marina or Jebel Ali would be able to get home safely and for a good price.
"The advantage is that it avoids the traffic, and the price makes it more convenient to travel than to take a taxi."
A number of people said that although they intended to use the Metro, they had concerns about how easy it would be to get to the stations.
The RTA plans to run "feeder" buses to shuttle commuters between the stations and their homes and places of work, but many people are also expected to drive part of their journey and then leave their car.
"I live in JLT [Jumeirah Lakes Towers] but work in Rashadiya," said Savio Noronha, 32, "and my work means I have to drive a lot during the day, so I won't really be using it, but the price is really reasonable.
"The only problem is that it is a skeletal Metro. What happens once you get off the Metro? That's where the prices add up, getting cabs from the Metro station to other locations."
During yesterday's press conference to announce the fares and introduce the Nol travel card, Mattar al Tayer, the executive director of the RTA, said three multi-storey car parks were under construction at Jebel Ali, Al Qusais and Rashidiya.
They will be free for people who then use public transport, while others will have to pay Dh10 an hour or Dh50 per day.
Executives at some malls have privately expressed concerns that their car parks might be used as a dumping ground for commuters' vehicles.
Mr al Tayer reiterated that not every station would be open when the first Metro trains start up in September.
"There would be no point in opening a station where there are no buildings finished," he said.
"If you go along Sheikh Zayed Road you will see buildings under construction so why would I add to the operating cost?"
Mr al Tayer also refused to comment in depth on the fate of the Purple Line, which was originally meant to link the existing Dubai International Airport with the new airport at Jebel Ali.
"It is still under study," he said.
He said a number of factors, including changes to the design of some elements of the Metro stations, had caused the cost of the project to rise "by some billions of dirhams".
"We are still calculating now so I can't give an accurate figure, but the government is aware, we are aware, and we have planned for our financial future."
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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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
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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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
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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.”
