MUSCAT // The UN’s special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, wants Oman to take a deeper role in ending the conflict as he pushes for a restart of peace talks.
Mr Cheikh Ahmed met with the Omani foreign minister, Yusuf bin Abdullah Alawi, in the hope of seeking a "speedy" solution a year after a breakdown in talks in Kuwait to end the war that has killed 8,000 people and displaced millions.
"The UN Yemen envoy would like Oman to go deeper in its mediation to seek a speedy solution between the Houthis and the Yemeni president," an Omani government official told The National. "He wants Oman to use its influence to bring the two sides for talks to solve their differences in an amicable way."
Mr Alawi said Oman would “fast track” its mediation role in the hope of persuading the two sides to agree to a UN plan to end the conflict and resume peace talks, official added.
Mr Cheikh Ahmed described the meeting late on Wednesday as very positive and that Oman “stresses the need to end the conflict in Yemen and renewed its support for the efforts of the United Nations”
Earlier he said on Twitter he would be holding meetings in the region this week and next week to “activate the peace process and to put an end to the catastrophic situation in Yemen”.
The war in Yemen started after Houthi rebels seized control of the capital Sanaa and forced the internationally-recognised government to flee. An Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia and including the UAE intervened in March 2015 after the rebels, who are backed by Iran and allied with the former president, overran Aden.
The last UN-backed talks broke down in August 2016 with Mr Cheikh Ahmed blaming a deficit in trust between the parties.
The focus, he said at the time, should have been on the necessity of offering concessions and advancing a step towards the other side so that the other side can advance a step in return.
The Yemeni government says talks must be based on a UN Security Council resolution that calls for the rebels give up their weapons and withdraw from cities as a precondition to any peace agreement.
But subsequent ceasefires and attempts to bring the parties together have been short-lived and little progress towards a political solution has been made in the last year.
Oman, which shares a porous 300km border with Yemen, is deeply invested in finding a resolution to the conflict," Ahmed Al Falahy, a political commentator and a former Omani diplomat, told The National. He said the Sultanate had accepted thousands of Yemeni refugees.
“Oman wants to see a quick end to this conflict not only for the refugee problems but the country is aware that its position of political neutrality in the region is a delicate one when one takes into account that Yemen is a conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran.”
A UN official in the region said both sides need to understand the consequences of a continued conflict. She said if the humanitarian issue is not enough international pressure to bring the warring sides together, then governments involved in the conflict must consider their responsibility in stepping in to bring Yemen back from the brink of disaster.
The UN has described Yemen as the “largest humanitarian crisis in the world”, warning that 80 per cent of country’s children need aid. Some 400,000 Yemenis have contracted cholera in an outbreak that has killed 2,000 people.
Fighting has recently intensified with clashes near Mokha on Yemen’s Red Sea coast killing more than 40 troops and rebels at the beginning of this week.
Naser Al Wasmi reported from Abu Dhabi
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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.”
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
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