Last year, at the Arab League summit in Jeddah, member states brought Syria back into the fold after 12 years of isolation, marking a major turning point in regional relations.
Many viewed it as a political victory for Damascus, which was shunned after a crackdown on protests turned into a civil war. Violence continues to rage in some parts of the country.
“Syria does not want to reopen the doors on the past,” said Bassam Abu Abdullah, professor of international relations at the University of Damascus.
The return of Syria to the Arab League was also part of a larger regional realignment, in which Saudi Arabia thawed relations with Iran last year.
There is slow progress in relations between Syria and the Arab region ... due to each Arab country's own circumstances. But changes are happening gradually behind closed doors
Prof Bassam Abu Abdullah,
University of Damascus
“There’s hope in the increasing Arab rapprochement and the launch of a new phase of joint action,” Syrian President Bashar Al Assad said last year, in his first speech at the annual Arab League summit in more than a decade.
The return of Damascus to the regional talks suggested there was a shift in the perception of Arab states towards Mr Al Assad’s position, and a recognition of the need to tackle the regional effects of Syria's civil war. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed in the violence and millions fled.
A statement by Arab states at the end of last year’s summit called on Syria to address pressing issues following its return, including a move towards a sustainable political solution, the return of Syrian refugees and efforts to tackle drug trafficking.
A year later, the 22 Arab countries are to hold the summit in Manama, Bahrain. The event is this time dominated by Israel's war on Gaza. The Syrian conflict is still on the Arab League’s agenda, although to a lesser degree than last year.
Hossam Zakki, assistant secretary general to the Arab League, has said there was “a decision on the crisis in Syria” taken during the foreign ministers’ meeting on Tuesday.
He said it “builds on opening lines of communications between the committee responsible for following up on the crisis in Syria and [ the government] in Damascus”, without giving any further details.
Diplomatic and political changes
Damascus re-established diplomatic ties with Arab states slowly in recent years, but those efforts have increases since it regained full membership of the Arab League.
Mr Al Assad is due to arrive to Manama on Thursday morning, sources close to the government tell The National.
He will not be speak at the summit and will instead focus on discussions relating to “Arab states' relations and the latest developments on the situation in Palestine”, the sources say.
There is “slow progress in relations between Syria and the Arab region”, Mr Abu Abdullah said. This is due to “each Arab country's own circumstances … but changes are happening gradually behind closed doors”.
The re-establishment of relations is taking place to varying degrees within Arab states. “It has been happening at a steady pace with the UAE,” Mr Abu Abdullah added.
Embassies started reopening in the Syrian capital after the country returned to the fold. In January, the first UAE ambassador in nearly 13 years took up his post in Damascus. Days later, Saudi Arabia sent a delegation to Damascus to resume consular services, further reintegrating the country into the Arab diplomatic sphere.
Abdullah Munini, secretary general of the Arab Parties' Conference in Damascus, said the UAE “stood with Damascus in all crises, did not abandon it and continues to provide all forms of support to it”.
The visit of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs, to Damascus in March last year was a “leap in Syrian-Arab relations and a gateway to the return of these relations to what they were 14 years ago”, Mr Munini added.
Despite differences in Arab positions towards Syria, “great progress was achieved last year [within the relations] that occurred with the opening of the embassies of several Arab countries in Damascus”, he explains.
Political changes inside the country are also taking place, Mr Abu Abdullah added. “President Bashar Al Assad is taking large steps towards internal political changes, not because of Arab demands but due to Syrian needs. There are changes happening within the governing Baath party, and other changes that will happen gradually.”
But despite the progress made in Syria and some regional countries, border controls and drug smuggling remain a source of tension with neighbouring Jordan.
On Tuesday, Jordan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi held talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in Manama “to stop smuggling operations and deflect their danger”, a Jordanian statement said.
For the past six years, smugglers have tried to bring drugs, and increasingly weapons, across the border from Syria into Jordan.
In February, Jordanian soldiers killed five smugglers who allegedly tried to move drugs across the border, the kingdom's military said at the time.
In the same month, the interior ministers of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq acknowledged in a meeting “that there is a big problem and it is drugs, and all our societies are suffering from this problem”, Jordanian Interior Minister Mazen Al Faraya said after their meeting.
The four countries agreed in the meeting, hosted by Amman, to step up efforts to tackle the issue.
Dangerous escalation
Violence remains rife in parts of Syria, although the country has fallen out of the headlines in recent months due to the war in Gaza. The situation in Syria has been made worse by the regional spillover of the Gaza conflict.
Geir Pedersen, UN special envoy for Syria, last month told the Security Council that the country was becoming “a sort of free-for-all space for settling scores”, emphasising the “dangerous and escalatory spiral” of recent events, including Israeli strikes on Iran's embassy in Damascus and Iran’s retaliatory strikes.
He called for sustained focus on the 13-year conflict in Syria. “Any temptation to ignore or merely contain the Syrian conflict itself would be a mistake. There are no signs of calm in any of Syria’s theatres," Mr Pedersen warned.
Mr Abu Abdullah said “Arab countries need to stick together … it makes every Arab country strong", referring to the Gaza war and the spillover in the region.
Dire humanitarian situation
Humanitarian needs in Syria continue to worsen, driven by escalating tension in the region. February's earthquakes led to further displacement and suffering, the UN said.
In 2024, 16.7 million Syrians are expected to need humanitarian assistance, the largest number since the beginning of the war in 2011, the UN added. It describes the crisis as “dire”, with a “volatile security situation and economic deterioration”.
More than $4.07 billion is required to address the immediate humanitarian needs of 10.8 million vulnerable people, it said.
Millions of Syrians continue to endure displacement, destitution and violence, with no political resolution in sight. Refugees in neighbouring countries are also dealing with increased hostility from their host countries.
“Syria has taken all steps to facilitate the refugees' return,” said Mr Abu Abdullah. ”A Syrian does not need an invitation to come back to his own country.”
After 13 years of war, Syria is also in desperate need of reconstruction, which some Gulf states could help with. But continued US and European sanctions have curbed investment in the country.
“There has been no investment at all from Arab states in Syria,” Mr Abu Abdullah said. “Sanctions have hindered these efforts. Working on the economic needs of the Arab region take precedence over the political issues."
More pressure needs to be put on the US and the West ” to remove the sanctions on Syria that have affected every aspect of life", Mr Munini said.
The rift between the Arab countries and Syria at the beginning of the crisis was unjustified given the “pivotal role that Syria represents in the entire Arab region”, he added.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 480hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 570Nm from 2,300-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.4L/100km
Price: from Dh547,600
On sale: now
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.0-litre, twin-turbocharged W12
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 626bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh1,050,000
On sale: now
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULTS
1.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,400m
Winner: Dirilis Ertugrul, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Ismail Mohammed (trainer)
2.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,400m
Winner: Kidd Malibu, Sandro Paiva, Musabah Al Muhairi
2.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,000m
Winner: Raakezz, Tadhg O’Shea, Nicholas Bachalard
3.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,200m
Winner: Au Couer, Sean Kirrane, Satish Seemar
3.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m
Winner: Rayig, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
4.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,600m
Winner: Chiefdom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
4.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,800m
Winner: King’s Shadow, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
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.”
SCHEDULE
December 8: UAE v USA (Sharjah Cricket Stadium)
December 9: USA v Scotland (Sharjah Cricket Stadium)
December 11: UAE v Scotland (Sharjah Cricket Stadium)
December 12: UAE v USA (ICC Academy Oval 1)
December 14: USA v Scotland (ICC Academy Oval 1)
December 15: UAE v Scotland (ICC Academy Oval 1)
All matches start at 10am
The biog
Siblings: five brothers and one sister
Education: Bachelors in Political Science at the University of Minnesota
Interests: Swimming, tennis and the gym
Favourite place: UAE
Favourite packet food on the trip: pasta primavera
What he did to pass the time during the trip: listen to audio books
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT
On sale: now
FFP EXPLAINED
What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.
What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.
What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.
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
Profile of Udrive
Date started: March 2016
Founder: Hasib Khan
Based: Dubai
Employees: 40
Amount raised (to date): $3.25m – $750,000 seed funding in 2017 and a Seed round of $2.5m last year. Raised $1.3m from Eureeca investors in January 2021 as part of a Series A round with a $5m target.
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Fixtures and results:
Wed, Aug 29:
- Malaysia bt Hong Kong by 3 wickets
- Oman bt Nepal by 7 wickets
- UAE bt Singapore by 215 runs
Thu, Aug 30: UAE v Nepal; Hong Kong v Singapore; Malaysia v Oman
Sat, Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong; Oman v Singapore; Malaysia v Nepal
Sun, Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman; Malaysia v UAE; Nepal v Singapore
Tue, Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore; UAE v Oman; Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu, Sep 6: Final
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
FIGHT CARD
Sara El Bakkali v Anisha Kadka (Lightweight, female)
Mohammed Adil Al Debi v Moaz Abdelgawad (Bantamweight)
Amir Boureslan v Mahmoud Zanouny (Welterweight)
Abrorbek Madaminbekov v Mohammed Al Katheeri (Featherweight)
Ibrahem Bilal v Emad Arafa (Super featherweight)
Ahmed Abdolaziz v Imad Essassi (Middleweight)
Milena Martinou v Ilham Bourakkadi (Bantamweight, female)
Noureddine El Agouti v Mohamed Mardi (Welterweight)
Nabil Ouach v Ymad Atrous (Middleweight)
Nouredin Samir v Zainalabid Dadachev (Lightweight)
Marlon Ribeiro v Mehdi Oubahammou (Welterweight)
Brad Stanton v Mohamed El Boukhari (Super welterweight
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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The five pillars of Islam
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Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
