On December 8, 2024, rebels launched an offensive that toppled long-standing president Bashar Al Assad, ending five decades of Assad family rule.
One year on, Syria is slowly but surely healing its wounds. The country is focused on rebuilding and economic recovery as it reintegrates into the international community. Global acceptance and support are growing, with sanctions being lifted, debts settled and investments flowing into the country. Nearly three million Syrians have reportedly returned home in the past year – an unthinkable prospect at one time.
But there have been obstacles along the way. As we wrote in our editorial, repairing the destruction from the civil war is a demanding, long-term endeavour. Solutions to Syria’s diverse and deep-rooted problems are neither easy nor quick to implement.
Still, while the challenges and concerns are vast, so is the potential. In the words of a colleague of mine: "There is a real chance now for Syria’s next chapter to be a happy one."
After years of being largely forgotten, Syria is making headlines again – and this time, the hope is for the country to remain in the news for happier reasons than in the past decade.
Thousands of volunteers pack meals in Expo City Dubai. Antonie Robertson / The National
Thousands of people gathered in Dubai on Sunday to pack 10 million meals for the people of Gaza, as part of a nationwide humanitarian aid drive.
"We initially called for 2,000 volunteers to help pack the parcels – yet, within just one week, more than 20,000 individuals rushed to sign up," said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai. "This is the spirit of the UAE. This is the true legacy of the sons of Zayed. This is the love that the people of the UAE hold for the people of Palestine."
Syrian Mulhim Darweesh, 27, travelled from Sharjah to join the humanitarian effort. “Our hearts and thoughts are with them. I’m happy to know this food will reach needy people in Gaza. I want to inspire others to come and take part,” he said.
Emirati student Hessa Turki travelled from Al Ain with her five sisters to help pack the vital relief supplies. “The worst thing is when you feel powerless, but this initiative gave us the chance to help Gazans,” she told The National. “I’m proud seeing my country helping Palestinians in this difficult situation.”
Quoted
'It'd be wonderful if 30 years from now, people said, ‘Malaria? What was that? Polio? What was that?''
– Bill Gates tells The National that his foundation has "very ambitious goals" to eradicate polio and malaria, and his main concerns are the actual outcomes he achieves, rather than how he is remembered.
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Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
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.”
MATCH INFO
CAF Champions League semi-finals first-leg fixtures
Tuesday:
Primeiro Agosto (ANG) v Esperance (TUN) (8pm UAE)
Al Ahly (EGY) v Entente Setif (ALG) (11PM)
Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
• Bloomberg
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
