The United States and South Korea started a low-key joint military drill on Sunday as a diplomatic thaw over North Korea gathered pace.
Tensions on the peninsula have showed increasing signs of easing in recent months after the isolated, nuclear-armed North proposed summits with the South and their "imperialist enemy" the US.
The annual Foal Eagle drill — a series of field training exercises involving about 11,500 American and 290,000 South Korean troops — began early on Sunday, Seoul's defence ministry spokesman said.
The manoeuvres — which were delayed to avoid clashing with February's Winter Olympics in the South - will be held for a month in April, about half the time they usually last.
This year's drills feature fewer strategic weapons such as a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the South's army said earlier. The deployment of such powerful weapons at past drills has frequently drawn an angry response from the North.
The two allies are also set to stage the annual Key Resolve drill — a tabletop exercise using mainly computer-based simulations — for the usual duration of two weeks beginning late this month.
Pyongyang, which habitually criticises the joint army drills between the South and the US as a rehearsal for invasion, has remained relatively quiet on the issue in recent weeks.
The Foal Eagle drill started the same day as a historic concert by South Korean pop stars in Pyongyang, which will be staged late on Sunday as a peace gesture ahead of this month's inter-Korea summit.
Eleven South Korean acts — including popular K-pop girlband Red Velvet — are set to perform in the North Korean capital, the first such concert there for more than a decade.
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The flurry of reconciliatory moves comes after the Pyeongchang Winter Games, which the North used to mount a charm offensive, sending athletes, cheerleaders and even leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister as a delegate.
Mr Kim, who last week met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on his first overseas trip as leader, also met Olympics chief Thomas Bach in Pyongyang on Saturday, thanking him for helping to bring about a "dramatic thawing" of tensions on the peninsula.
Mr Kim is set to hold a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27 at the border truce village of Panmunjom — only the third time ever that leaders of the two countries have met.
Also on Sunday protesters gathered near the US embassy in Seoul to denounce the military manoeuvres, with signs reading "we oppose the annual joint military exercises".
Meanwhile on Saturday US Senator Elizabeth Warren said chaos in the Trump administration is harming its ability to formulate a coherent policy toward North Korea's nuclear programme and other important issues in Asia.
Vacancies in the foreign service are undermining Washington's ability to advance US interests, Ms Warren in Beijing.
US allies, while still supportive, are "searching for information" about US intentions in Asia, the Massachusetts Democrat said.
"This has been a chaotic foreign policy in the region, and that makes it hard to keep the allies that we need to accomplish our objectives closely stitched-in," she said.
The senator said President Donald Trump's agreement to meet with North Korean leader's was "rash", in the absence of Pyongyang's commitment to take "any steps at all to indicate that they were serious about denuclearisation".
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
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.”
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
RESULT
Argentina 0 Croatia 3
Croatia: Rebic (53'), Modric (80'), Rakitic (90' 1)
