Saudi Arabia’s king said on Wednesday that all countries have a responsibility to combat terrorism and extremism, as the 36th Gulf Cooperation Council summit opened in Riyadh.
“Islam rejects and abhors terrorism, because it is a religion of moderation and tolerance,” said King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in his opening address at Diriyah Palace.
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani told the summit that recent attacks in several countries prove this “odious scourge” is a threat to everybody.
“The international community must, more than ever, intensify efforts to combat terrorism in all its forms and eliminate its real causes by all means,” he said.
The UAE delegation to the two-day meeting was headed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, according to state news agency Wam.
For the past year, Qatar has held the six-state GCC’s rotating presidency. Saudi Arabia assumes the presidency for 2016.
King Salman thanked Emir Sheikh Tamim for his “successful efforts”.
“The region is [facing] very complicated conditions, challenges and ambitions which require us to stand and work together to continue to fortify our countries against foreign threats and extend a helping hand to our brothers in order to restore security and stability in addition to addressing challenges facing our Arab region and resolving their issues,” he added.
The GCC was founded in 1981 and includes the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait.
“This session is held while the region is witnessing serious challenges that require vigilance and hard work in order to preserve GCC achievements and to seek further integration and solidarity to achieve the hopes and aspirations of the GCC citizens,” GCC Secretary General Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani said, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
Talks also focused on the wars in Yemen and Syria and the threat posed by Iranian meddling.
A Saudi Arabia-led coalition of mostly Arab countries, backed by the United States, intervened in Yemen last March in support of the internationally recognised government. President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi had been driven from the capital Sanaa by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels allied with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, the country’s long-time leader who was overthrown in Arab Spring unrest in 2011.
The rebels were expelled from key areas including the southern port of Aden and the energy producing governorate of Marib, but the offensive slowed as government loyalists and allied troops drew closer to Sanaa.
It appeared all sides wanted to avoid the kind of bloody street-to-street, house-to-house fighting that taking the ground war into the capital would likely involve.
Mr Hadi has now said that his government will engage in peace talks with the rebels. Negotiations are expected to begin in Geneva and a week-long truce will begin on December 15.
“Regarding Yemen, the coalition countries are keen to achieve security and stability in Yemen under the leadership of its legitimate government. We, the GCC states, support a peaceful solution in order to enable Yemen overcoming the crisis and restoring its march towards construction and development,” said King Salman on Wednesday.
Meeting in Riyadh at the same time, a group of more than 100 Syrian rebels and members of the political opposition were aiming to establish a strategy for negotiating with the Assad regime before the new year.
Saudi Arabia is among the key backers of the Syrian opposition, but a recent push to end the war in the country has seen the involvement of several GCC countries. The UAE took part in Vienna talks this autumn between the key backers of the opposition and the regime. The diplomatic activity even saw Oman’s foreign minister Yusuf bin Alawi meet Syrian president Bashar Al Assad in Damascus in October.
The regional unrest in Syria and Yemen was set against the backdrop of falling oil prices. Earlier this month, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) decided against cutting oil production, meaning that a global oversupply of oil continues to send prices downwards, pushing GCC countries to look towards economic reforms.
While Oman – which is not a member of Opec and prefers to play a mediator role in the Yemen conflict rather than join the Saudi-led military coalition – remains an outlier, the meeting came at a time of GCC unity not seen in years. Previously, Qatar, in particular, had been at odds with the other states over its support for the Muslim Brotherhood.
“I think the Saudis feel that given the grave – perhaps existential – threats the GCC countries face from the turmoil around them as well as the formidable economic challenges in light of the drop in oil prices, it is necessary to bring more cohesion,” said Fahad Nazer, a former political analyst the Saudi embassy in Washington.
“The thinking appears to be predicated on the premise that acting collectively is more efficacious than each member acting unilaterally.”
jvela@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by agencies
The low down
Producers: Uniglobe Entertainment & Vision Films
Director: Namrata Singh Gujral
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Nargis Fakhri, Bo Derek, Candy Clark
Rating: 2/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Army of the Dead
Director: Zack Snyder
Stars: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera
Three stars
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
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- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
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What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
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.”
