The Israeli government has become used to various US administrations decrying West Bank settlement projects and then falling silent on the issue, and Israeli bulldozers have continued to roar into the Occupied Territories, wrote Mazen Hammad in the Qatari daily Al Watan.
This state of affairs does not hold true anymore. Things have changed with Barack Obama, who is putting his political future at stake by calling for a freeze to settlement activity in the Palestinian territories.
The American administration is more serious than ever in opposing the Israeli settlement expansion as an obstacle to achieving any progress in the Middle East peace process, and accordingly it is impossible to ignore the inevitable clash between this administration and the Israel government that will soon happen.
The two parties are evidently doing their best to avoid the clash and despite the total failure of negotiations between Mr Obama's envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, and the Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barack, the talks were described as "positive and constructive". The best they could do was schedule another appointment between Mr Mitchell and Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu in two weeks time. But this next meeting will have to yield some decisions.
The Iranian regime has gone too far in pointing fingers at external parties and accusing them of provoking the mass protests that followed the June 12 presidential elections, wrote Arib al Rantawi in the Jordanian Arabic daily Addustour.
Iranian officials even accused foreign powers of "igniting a revolution within the revolution".
The regime's opponents, on the other hand, portrayed the events as a popular revolution against the theocracy and heralded an imminent return of the old, pre-Ayatollah Iran.
Both visions are too narrow and can not explain what is going on in Iran. No external party, no matter how arrogant it is, could dare to challenge the mullahs in their fiefdom. If an external actor had the power to secure 13 million votes for the reformists and incite hundreds of thousands of protesters in the streets of Tehran, the regime would not have been able to live another day.
The events can neither be described as a revolt by the people against the regime. It is rather a division among the people and within the regime itself. A division in which the "revolution", the "conservatives", the "guard" and the "ruling clergy" still have the upper hand.
A report released by the US Congress has raised a number of extremely serious issues in Kuwait, namely the political dispute between the government and the parliament that has been going on for years, wrote Abdulkareem al Saleh in the Kuwati daily Al Rai.
Other issues examined by the report included the looming Sunni-Shiite tension and the responsibility of the current political stalemate for delaying a number of vital energy projects.
A second report, drafted under the supervision of the former British prime minister Tony Blair, warned that Kuwait's future development might be in danger from the political limbo.
The content of the two reports was of course rejected on most points, mainly because they were released by foreign parties. No objective reasons were given for this state of denial, whereas Kuwaitis should have looked into what issues they brought forward, not at who issued them.
According to the author, both reports were highly pertinent and based on facts commonly known to Kuwaitis. The current situation is a indeed a gloomy one, the options are limited and a lot of time has been wasted. Now is the time for conclusions, the author wrote.
The Saudi reconciliation train is running behind a locomotive that has long travelled on the Damascus-Beirut line in the past years, wrote Satei Nureddine in an opinion column published by the Lebanese Arabic daily Assafir.
The Lebanese majority is in doubt and confusion, the minority is rather satisfied and both are questioning the role of the Saudi train, which is fuelled by the kingdom's need to secure stability in Lebanon, bring Syria into its sphere of influence and separate it as far as possible from Tehran.
The kingdom's allies victory in recent elections is not synonymous with a clear divorce from Damascus, but there is definitely a new start in the two neighbours' relations, the columnist wrote.
The Lebanese majority, however, is under pressure to make huge concessions, including closing the file on the assassination of the former prime minister Rafik Hariri, in response to the Saudis need to "contain" Syria whatever the price. But this price, which might seem high at first glance, would be largely compensated for by later arrangements to reframe the Lebanese-Syrian relations as a whole.
* Digest complied by Mohammed Naji
mnaji@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.”
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
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
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Croatia v Hungary, Thursday, 10.45pm, UAE
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
Mazen Abukhater, principal and actuary at global consultancy Mercer, Middle East, says the company’s Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index - which benchmarks 34 pension schemes across the globe to assess their adequacy, sustainability and integrity - included Saudi Arabia for the first time this year to offer a glimpse into the region.
The index highlighted fundamental issues for all 34 countries, such as a rapid ageing population and a low growth / low interest environment putting pressure on expected returns. It also highlighted the increasing popularity around the world of defined contribution schemes.
“Average life expectancy has been increasing by about three years every 10 years. Someone born in 1947 is expected to live until 85 whereas someone born in 2007 is expected to live to 103,” Mr Abukhater told the Mena Pensions Conference.
“Are our systems equipped to handle these kind of life expectancies in the future? If so many people retire at 60, they are going to be in retirement for 43 years – so we need to adapt our retirement age to our changing life expectancy.”
Saudi Arabia came in the middle of Mercer’s ranking with a score of 58.9. The report said the country's index could be raised by improving the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals and increasing the labour force participation rate at older ages as life expectancies rise.
Mr Abukhater said the challenges of an ageing population, increased life expectancy and some individuals relying solely on their government for financial support in their retirement years will put the system under strain.
“To relieve that pressure, governments need to consider whether it is time to switch to a defined contribution scheme so that individuals can supplement their own future with the help of government support,” he said.
