DUBAI // K Hamzah Abbas remembers a country where foreign media was rare and labourers from the Indian state of Kerala were legion.
And it was only 10 years ago.
A decade later, Mr Abbas is one of a battalion of foreign journalists in the UAE, and Indian expatriates from his home state of Kerala increasingly are found in white-collar jobs.
Certainly, the dramatic change in the Dubai skyline is worthy of note. Mr Abbas, 66, remembers when the 37-storey World Trade Centre was the only high-rise on the dusty, two-lane highway from Dubai to Abu Dhabi now known as Sheikh Zayed Road.
Now the World Trade Centre is dwarfed by dozens of skyscrapers, a development he describes as "unimaginable".
But as chief editor of the Middle East edition of the Gulf Mahdyamam newspaper, a Malayalam-language publication, Mr Abbas believes the country's arrival on the world stage owes much to its embrace of the news media.
He called the turn-of-the-century development of Dubai Media City and Internet City a paradigm shift in the development of the emirate and the nation.
He credits the move to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
"The area where we have the Dubai Media City and Internet City was once just barren land," Mr Abbas said. "The opening of the Media City in 2002 welcomed the media from the world to the emirate. Organisations from around the world built some of the best offices there. This changed the image of the emirate and the country."
News broadcasts from Dubai put the country on the world map, he said.
A decade ago the region had not been exposed to news-gathering operations from other nations.
Mr Abbas, who was instrumental in the start-up of his newspaper's regional edition, in 2002, said there were some early hurdles.
"The beginning was not easy for us," he said.
"There were no special licences for foreign newspapers here. We used to often operate without proper documents of approval. It was an effort to get an approval to print and circulate here."
Nearly 10 years on, the situation has changed dramatically.
"Everything is now legalised with proper licences for operation of foreign newspapers," he said.
"We now have an office at Dubai Media City, a media hub of the region.
"The freedom is as much as we get in India and local news content is also being included."
The paper claims a circulation of over 62,000 in the UAE. Following the success of Gulf Madhyamam, several regional newspapers also began operations in the UAE.
Today, nearly a dozen South Asian newspapers, television stations and new-media outlets have offices in the UAE.
Content is prepared and published in Malayalam, Urdu and other Indian languages.
Mr Abbas said that the position of Keralite expatriates in the country also has changed markedly in the past decade.
"Earlier, many Indians came as labourers. Now, you would find very few labourers from Kerala," he said.
"Instead, they come as skilled workers and for other white-collar jobs."
He said Keralites first came to fill the UAE demand for manpower.
"However, now we see that Indians are migrating to other parts of the world," he said.
"I feel that the future manpower needs of the UAE may not be satisfied by India as they are moving to other countries like the US, South East Asia and Europe."
However, the association between the UAE and India will continue, he said, and is getting stronger.
"India is now a major trade partner of the UAE.
"Looking at the growth of the UAE, our paper is also planning new projects here that will be announced soon"
@Email:pmenon@thenational.ae
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.”
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: ten-speed
Power: 420bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: Dh325,125
On sale: Now
THE%20SPECS
%3Cp%3EEngine%3A%204.4-litre%20twin-turbo%20V8%20hybrid%0D%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20653hp%20at%205%2C400rpm%0D%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20800Nm%20at%201%2C600-5%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3ETransmission%3A%208-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E0-100kph%20in%204.3sec%0D%3Cbr%3ETop%20speed%20250kph%0D%3Cbr%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20NA%0D%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20Q2%202023%0D%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh750%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
MATCH INFO
Barcelona v Real Madrid, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
THE SPECS
Engine: 3-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 424hp
Torque: 580 Nm
Price: From Dh399,000
On sale: Now
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
