Transport

New drivers will be taught first aid

Basic first-aid training, followed by a test, is to become compulsory for all Abu Dhabi driving licence applicants.

Mitya Underwood

September 07, 2008

ABU DHABI // Basic first-aid training will be compulsory from next year for all Abu Dhabi driving licence applicants, who will have to pass a test before they are allowed to drive. The Government hopes the training will give drivers better knowledge and understanding of the way to treat roadside casualties, which could ultimately give some victims a better chance of survival. About three people die on UAE roads every day on average. In an attempt to reduce the number of accidents, stiffer penalties were introduced in March for offences such as not wearing seat belts and driving while using mobile phones.

Dr Jens Thomsen at Heath Authority Abu Dhabi said: "We are doing what a lot of other countries do. It makes sense. Of course we cannot prevent any future injuries from happening but we can do something about the outcome of existing injuries. "If drivers and pedestrians are able to provide and deliver first aid maybe the likelihood of reaching the hospital alive and surviving the injuries will be increased.

"This is just the first step," he said. "We need to finalise a lot of decisions such as where the training will take place, and we are working with the police to make sure it is implemented properly. "People need to know their limitations, they should know how and when to help, and when to do nothing at all." Dr Thomsen said the tender for the training went out last week and proposals must be received by Sept 24. He hopes to bring in an international company to work with a local agency. Trainers will need to be fluent in Arabic, English, Urdu or any other languages spoken by licence applicants.

The health authority has approached a number of agencies, including the Red Cross in Germany, Canada and the UK, for advice on how best to begin the training. The courses will cover such techniques as cardiopulmonary resuscitation and checking breathing and circulation. Under a five-year plan announced in May, reducing the number of road deaths is the health authority's second-highest priority, after ensuring universal health care.

According to a UAE University study, 1,056 people died in 8,872 road accidents last year. Dr Klaus Boecker, director of corporate performance and operations at the health agency, said that with so many road accidents and deaths, there was no excuse for not introducing first-aid training. He noted that some other countries, such as Germany, require it. He also said first-aid training would be useful in treating household injuries.

@Email:munderwood@thenational.ae

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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”

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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.”