During his visit to Expo 2020 in October, India’s Commerce Minister, Piyush Goyal, announced his country’s ambition to finalise a trade agreement with the UAE by early next year. The announcement came on the same day that Indian industrial conglomerate Reliance unveiled plans for a new UAE trade hub, and in the same week that Abu Dhabi Investment Authority announced a $400 million deal with Indonesian tech firm GoTo.
These developments underline a trend that has been quickening in recent years: the forging of stronger economic relationships between the Gulf and Asia.
Research published by Asia House last month found that trade between the GCC and emerging Asian markets – including India and China – grew by 36 per cent in the decade before the pandemic, alongside a slowing of trade with advanced western economies, such as the US, UK and EU.
By 2030, GCC trade with Asian emerging markets will be worth $480 billon, the research forecasts, outstripping the region’s trade with advanced western economies for the first time.
A new narrative is emerging in geopolitical circles of a growing competition for influence in the Gulf between East and West amid rising global tensions.
For some in the West, the situation might represent cause for concern. It need not. Rather, mutual opportunities will abound as the Gulf rises further with Asia’s tide.
An obvious example lies in the investment and development opportunities that are emerging as Middle East economies diversify and prosper amid growing trade with Asia. Rapid urbanisation and infrastructure development remain key trends across the region – the population living in the Middle East’s cities more than doubled between 1960 and 2015 – with Gulf economies outlining visions for smart cities, such as Neom, centred on innovation and sustainability.
For economies such as the UK, these are visions worth sharing, given Britain’s particular strengths in frontier technologies such as AI, digital infrastructure and renewable technologies. The UK government is, I’m sure, working hard to help UK businesses engage with these projects and capture the opportunities they herald.
A new narrative is emerging in geopolitical circles
But perhaps the most profound benefit arising from stronger Gulf-Asia ties can be found in the most pressing issue facing us all today. As world leaders wrap up Cop26, they understand that the challenges of climate change can only be met through global co-operation. And those challenges are huge, especially as emerging economies are under pressure to balance economic development with climate action. South-East Asia’s electricity demand, for example, is the fastest-growing in the world, yet renewables accounted for just 15 per cent of the region’s energy mix in 2019.
Here, too, closer ties between the Gulf and Asia are making a positive contribution. The Gulf is leading the way on innovative solutions to meeting global energy demand while working towards reducing carbon emissions, and Asian economies are proving important partners in doing so. Last month, during the Future Investment Initiative meeting in Saudi Arabia, Saudi oil giant Aramco announced a deal with Hong Kong-based InterContinental Energy to build a green hydrogen plant. And in September 2020, Saudi Arabia sent blue ammonia to Japan in a world-first shipment of a commodity that promises to be a key transition fuel as economies shift towards renewables. With the Gulf seeking investment to further develop such technologies, moreover, the inevitable demand for green finance will offer lucrative opportunities for financial hubs both East and West.
Importantly, it is not one-way traffic. Among the most eye-catching trends in recent years has been the growing presence, quite literally, of Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds in Asia. SWFs from across the region have opened offices in Asian hubs such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. The trading posts that once anchored the Silk Roads between the peoples of Eurasia are, perhaps, rising again.
Geography is, of course, important. The Middle East has always been a conduit for trade between East and West, and in a world of supply chain disruption and shipping delays, its position on global trade routes has never been more important. But the region has also been a conduit for ideas and engagement, and at a time of global tensions, this is more important still.
A Gulf that is open to both East and West can fuel the global recovery and help build a greener economy through energy innovation. The Middle East’s pivot to Asia, then, could serve as a great connector for the world and key driver of global growth in the century ahead.
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
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
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
Company Profile
Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
THE%20HOLDOVERS
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The biog
Favourite book: Animal Farm by George Orwell
Favourite music: Classical
Hobbies: Reading and writing
'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness'
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg and Rachel McAdams
Rating: 3/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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SCORES
Multiply Titans 81-2 in 12.1 overs
(Tony de Zorzi, 34)
bt Auckland Aces 80 all out in 16 overs
(Shawn von Borg 4-15, Alfred Mothoa 2-11, Tshepo Moreki 2-16).
THE BIO
Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old
Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai
Favourite Book: The Alchemist
Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna
Favourite cuisine: Italian food
Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman
Arctic Monkeys
Tranquillity Base Hotel Casino (Domino)
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
