ABU DHABI // Free Wi-Fi could soon be provided in all taxis in the emirate.
The Centre for Regulation of Transport by Hire Cars, or Transad, is in talks with a company to supply its 7,645 Abu Dhabi taxis with access to the internet for passengers.
"We started out with five of our Mercedes Vito Compact vans," said Mohammed Al Qamzi, TransAD's general manager. "There's a company that we're dealing, and our plan is to roll it out on the full fleet soon. We earlier had an issue with a telecom's pricing but this has been sorted out.
“By the end of this month, the company will come up with a plan on how fast they can roll out the Wi-Fi in all taxis.”
Analiza Montezo, 29, who shares a cab with a colleague to work at Bawabat Al Sharq Mall in Baniyas, said Wi-Fi in taxis would be a good idea as many people spend time during their journeys checking messages, emails and social media accounts.
“I can now browse the internet, access my emails, Skype and send messages via WhatsApp,” she said.
Free Wi-Fi was introduced in some taxis at last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Known as "smart taxis", the Mercedes Vito Compact vans run on green diesel, are equipped with GPS systems, safety features, and have an intercom system for communications between the passenger and driver. TransAD is also in talks to introduce card payments for fares across for all its vehicles. So far, only the 222 black luxury airport vans have the facility.
“The issue with the regular taxis is the customer will have to pay an additional surcharge and we need to get a special approval to waive it,” Mr Al Qamzi. “We don’t want to pass it on to the passenger. We have to review to plan carefully and we’ll try to do it as soon as possible.”
The Abu Dhabi taxi regulator is talking to some banks to enable passengers to use their credit cards to pay for their journeys.
“It can be done for free by providing ads on the receipt itself, for example,” he said. “We can definitely go ahead with this.”
Mohammed Yousef, 43, who drives for Cars Taxi for eight years, said it would help if they could accept credit card payments, especially when they do not have change for large denomination bills.
“Passengers are angry when we don’t have enough change,” he said.
Abu Dhabi taxis make an average of 6 million trips a month. Of those, about 60,000 trips are booked using the Abu Dhabi Taxi mobile app.
All taxis are now equipped with closed-circuit television cameras to help identify fare dodgers, prevent disputes, and curb aggressive driving among cabbies. The cameras also help in the process of returning lost items.
“When there’s a security camera, we can reduce the risk by about 95 per cent,” Mr Al Qamzi said. “If there is a dispute between the passenger and driver, we can check the footage and know what exactly happened inside the taxi.”
To reduce waiting time, new taxi ranks will be introduced at some malls and housing developers.
“For example, traffic at Al Wahda Mall is 12,000 trips daily so there are plans to add a second taxi rank,” he said.
“There should be one drop-off and one pick up point to ease congestion around the area.”
rruiz@thenational.ae
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Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
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.”
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 (Turf) 1,400m. Winner: Al Ajeeb W’Rsan, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Jaci Wickham (trainer).
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 (T) 1,400m racing. Winner: Mujeeb, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel.
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 90,000 (T) 2,200m. Winner: Onward, Connor Beasley, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Jewel Crown Prep Rated Conditions (PA) Dh 125,000 (T) 2,200m. Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle.
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 (T) 1,600m. Winner: AF Arrab, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 90,000 (T) 1,400m. Winner: Irish Freedom, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
West Asia Premiership
Dubai Hurricanes 58-10 Dubai Knights Eagles
Dubai Tigers 5-39 Bahrain
Jebel Ali Dragons 16-56 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The story of Edge
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.
It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.
Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.
Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
