DUBAI // Mohammed Ali wants to build a house. Surendran KB wants to put his children through university. Hidayat Ali just wants to make sure his family doesn't starve.
All three have made the UAE their home, and while the reasons that bought them here are different, these three Indian nationals choose to stay because of the promise of a better life for them and their families through higher wages.
The residents of Sonapur - a vast collection of camps also known as the City of Gold - each month join hundreds of thousands of others in sending most of their salary back home.
Remittances from the UAE to India account for US$6.2 billion (Dh22.7bn) a year, last year's MasterCard Worldwide Insights report showed.
Hidayat Ali, 37, says that of the Dh1,300 he earns a month as a security guard, he keeps only Dh300 to pay for his own living expenses.
"It's not really enough for me but what can I do?" says Mr Ali, a father of three. "I have to send that much so my family can survive."
He came to Dubai eight years ago after a moderately successful career in India as a singer. But there he could only find employment for eight months of the year, during peak season.
Mr Ali left school early to pursue his singing so he does not have the option of seeking skilled work.
"I don't know how long I will stay here but there's no work for me back home," he says.
Saher Shaikh, the founder of the Adopt a Camp charity, says blue-collar workers in Dubai generally earn about one fifth more than they would in the subcontinent.
"It's not like they're flush with cash," she says. "It's not that much more but it's enough to tip the balance for them to be able to afford education for their kids, or better health care for their family.
"They don't expect to become rich fast. Their plan is to look after their family and have enough so that when they go home they can take it easy.
"As long as they get paid and don't belong to a company that abandons them, it normally works out."
Mohammed Ali, 30, sends home about 75 per cent of the Dh4,000 monthly salary he gets from working in a glass factory in Sharjah.
"I'm not going to spend my whole life here," he says. "In two years, I'll make enough money to purchase land. After another two years, I'll have enough money to start construction of a house.
"Once we're settled and have solved all of our financial problems in India, I'll go back."
KV Shamsudeen, chairman of the Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust, which gives financial advice to blue-collar workers, says Indian nationals often forget they need to save money when they arrive.
"They cannot live forever in this country, they have to go back," Mr Shamsudeen says.
"Once they realise that, they will start to save every month.
"They realise they need to sacrifice a little bit now for the future, then they fix a goal to make this amount of money."
Surendran KB, 53, a camp boss, says he was focused from the time he arrived. He sends about 65 per cent of his salary home to pay for his children's university costs.
"Once they've finished their education and have got jobs, then I'll go back to retire," Mr Surendran says.
"I couldn't have paid for it on the salary I would get in India."
He says he is not concerned about saving for the future as he is an ex-serviceman and expects to receive a pension in seven years. "I'm looking forward to retiring."
Another labour camp boss, Rana, says every one of the 1,250 men who live at his site sends money home, mostly for building a family house.
"Some are here for six or eight years, and all of them try to save money to build a home for their family," Rana says.
"That is their focus."
mcroucher@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by Ramola Talwar Badam
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if you go
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
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UAE squad
Men's draw: Victor Scvortov and Khalifa Al Hosani, (both 73 kilograms), Sergiu Toma and Mihail Marchitan (90kg), Ivan Remarenco (100kg), Ahmed Al Naqbi (60kg), Musabah Al Shamsi and Ahmed Al Hosani (66kg)
Women’s draw: Maitha Al Neyadi (57kg)
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.”
Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.
The Way It Was: My Life with Frank Sinatra by Eliot Weisman and Jennifer Valoppi
Hachette Books
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