UAE

Foundation stone laid for children's hospital

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has laid the foundation stone for the UAE's first dedicated children's hospital.

Charlie Hamilton

July 20, 2009

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has laid the foundation stone for the UAE's first dedicated children's hospital. The Dh1bn (US$272.3mn) Jalilah Specialised Paediatric Hospital is being built close to Al Wasl Hospital and will have a capacity of about 200 beds, the official WAM news agency reported yesterday. The hospital, which is named after Sheikh Mohammed's daughter Sheikha Al Jalilah , is due to be finished next year. "The hospital should be a sanctuary for children," Sheikh Mohammed was quoted as saying.

He added that it is a national and humanitarian duty to provide an environment in which young people could flourish. The Sheikh, who was accompanied by Deputy Ruler, Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid, and other officials, viewed an electronic presentation on the hospital project. He expressed delight at the undertaking, which aims to combat a shortage of specialist child care centres in the UAE, according to WAM.

"This state-of-the-art medical institution constitutes a historic step towards updating comprehensive health care in the UAE," said Qadhi Saeed al Murooshid, the director of the Dubai Health Authority. The hospital project was announced in December last year. Doctors welcomed the news, citing a great need for a specialist children's hospital in the UAE. At the time of the announcement, Dr Anwar Malick, a paediatrician at the Gulf Diagnostic Centre in Abu Dhabi, said he had seen a dramatic rise in the need for children's services over the 25 years that he had been working in the UAE.

"There is definitely a need for a specialist hospital," he said. "With the population of the UAE rising so quickly, the number of children is rising quickly also. This will be very good for everyone." Several other hospitals are also building or extending paediatric wards. WAM did not say exactly what day Sheikh Mohammed laid the foundation stone. chamilton@thenational.ae

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Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23

UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final

Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final

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.”