Saudi Arabia and Iraq on Sunday launched a joint council that their leaders said would work to improve co-operation between the two countries and eliminate terrorism in the Middle East.
"We confront in our region serious challenges of extremism, terrorism and attempts to destabilise security and stability in our countries which necessitate our full co-ordination to confront these challenges," Saudi Arabia's King Salman said at the opening of the Saudi-Iraqi Co-ordination Council in Riyadh.
Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi and US secretary of state Rex Tillerson also spoke at the event.
"We believe that our security, economy, economy and interest must be formulated by joint action among the countries of the region," Mr Al Abadi said.
"We want everyone to live in stability and prosperity. We are ready to unite our efforts with our brothers' efforts to start a new era of peace, stability and development."
Backed by a US-led international coalition, Iraq has been successful in driving ISIL from almost all of the territory it seized in 2014 and has worked closely with other countries in the region in the fight against terrorism.
The formation of the council marks another step in the thawing of relations that have been tense for decades following the Iraq invasion of Kuwait under Saddam Hussein in 1990.
"This event highlights the strength and breadth as well as the great potential of the relations between your countries," Mr Tillerson said in his speech.
"The joint co-ordination council will not only lead to closer co-operation in the fight against Daesh, but will also help support the rehabilitation of facilities and infrastructure in the areas liberated," Mr Tillerson told reporters later.
"The council will also contribute to reforms that will grow and diversify Iraq's private sector. Such reforms will encourage the foreign investment that is vital to Iraq's reconstruction efforts. This will be critical to winning the peace that has been earned through the hard-fought military gains."
He also called for the Iran-backed Iraqi militias that were mobilised to fight ISIL, as well as their Iranian advisers, to "go home" now that the fight against the extremist militants was almost over.
Iraq is looking to Saudi Arabia for economic backing as both oil-dependent economies have suffered from a prolonged price slump.
While Baghdad is seeking economic assistance, Riyadh is looking to counter the influence in Iraq of its regional rival Iran, which has grown under the Shiite-led governments that followed the fall of the Saddam regime in the 2003 US invasion.
Saudi Arabia has in recent months welcomed a number of Iraqi figures including Moqtada Al Sadr, the powerful Shiite Iraqi cleric who commands huge support in Iraq.
Saeed Al Wahabi, a Saudi-based analyst, said the kingdom had made a concerted effort to promote co-operation with Iraq and had given its ministers the authority to promote plans to achieve this.
“Saudi Arabia set a plan to benefit from the new realities in Iraq following the ongoing defeat of ISIS and the rise of Kurds. Ministers and other senior officials including in the Saudi intelligence and the ministry of interior are now authorised and encouraged to promote co-operation with Iraq,” he said.
The Saudi-Iraqi meetings were a sign of Riyadh's intention to avert what was developing into a sectarian divide between the two countries in favour of bolstering the regional fight against terrorism, he said.
They are also seen as an attempt by Iraqi politicians to gain regional and domestic support ahead of elections early next year.
Talks between Mr Al Abadi and Saudi officials on Sunday also touched on the attempt by Iraqi Kurdistan to secede from the country through an independence referendum last month, a move that was condemned by Saudi Arabia.
Mr Al Abadi called the referendum a “departure from the constitution … that requires all of us in the region to do our duty to protect unity”.
The launch of the Saudi-Iraqi council comes a day after Saudi oil minister Khaled Al Falih's high-profile visit to Baghdad, where he called for the strengthening of co-operation to boost crude prices.
Speaking at the opening of the Baghdad International Fair, Mr Al Falih hailed what he called "the new Iraq, on the ambitious road to prosperity and growth while strengthening its relations with the world".
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Read more:
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Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
GYAN’S ASIAN OUTPUT
2011-2015: Al Ain – 123 apps, 128 goals
2015-2017: Shanghai SIPG – 20 apps, 7 goals
2016-2017: Al Ahli (loan) – 25 apps, 11 goals
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
MATCH INFO
West Ham United 2 (Antonio 73', Ogbonna 90 5')
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 36', Moura 42', Kane 49')
UFC Fight Night 2
1am – Early prelims
2am – Prelims
4am-7am – Main card
7:30am-9am – press cons
FIRST TEST SCORES
England 458
South Africa 361 & 119 (36.4 overs)
England won by 211 runs and lead series 1-0
Player of the match: Moeen Ali (England)
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
65
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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.”
The Old Slave and the Mastiff
Patrick Chamoiseau
Translated from the French and Creole by Linda Coverdale
