Gulf Business | July 2011

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REGIONAL NEWS, PEOPLE, NUMBERS AND EVENTS

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MISHAL KANOO Free trade is false trade.

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MATEIN KHALID The truth about GCC debt markets.

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DR TOMMY WEIR Building a corporate society.

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REAL ESTATE Is the GCC buying out Lebanon?

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ENERGY What disharmony at OPEC means for the body.

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FINANCE How wealth managers are wooing the region’s HNWIs.

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BUSINESS Recruiting independent non-executive directors in the GCC.

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ENERGY Global energy consumption levels are rising.

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TRADE The GCC and Australia ramp up ties.

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INDUSTRIES The region’s first caviar factory

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BUSINESS Do team-building exercises really work?

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PROFILE: V SHANKAR, CEO, STANDARD CHARTERED Unrest is inflating wages but the UAE is a safe haven.

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DESTINATION BRANDING Can the Gulf get its mojo back?

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BANKING: QATAR’S LEAP OF FAITH New regulations are transforming the Emir state.

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ROFILE: IVAN CHU, COO, CATHAY PACIFIC P The airline launches the first direct route from Abu Dhabi to Hong Kong.

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BORN IN THE RAK The emirate’s new maritime city

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HOSPITALITY TRENDS Top hotel CEOs on business patterns amid the unrest.

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STATS Regional mergers, acquisitions and bond issuances.

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TRAVEL Charming Malta boasts towns drenched in yesteryear.

CRUISE Reviewed: The Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed.

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PLACES TO BE Al Maha, Dubai’s most luxurious desert hideaway.

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GULF BUSINESS PREFERRED HOTELS A selection of the region’s top rooms.

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EVENTS The Gulf’s top business conferences.

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IN YOUR SHOES Harley Davidson’s Paul de Jong.

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On the Radar

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UAE growth to hit 4% on Libya oil turmoil The UAE can expect a windfall from high oil prices to lift economic growth to four per cent in 2011, according to Saudi American Bank Group (Samba). It had previously been projected by the IMF that the UAE would enjoy a 3.5 per cent growth rate this year.

But Samba put the increase down to soaring crude output in the country after the

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disruption in Libyaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oil supplies, plus better performance in Dubaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s non-oil sectors.

The UAEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s larger public spending budget this year is also expected to play a part.

Despite weak real estate sectors and debt problems in Dubai, the UAEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growth outlook remains positive and will moderate to 3.6 per cent in 2012, said Samba.

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Estimates were revised from a previous earnings forecast of $900 million to $100 million, an 86 per cent cut.

High oil prices, uncertain market conditions and natural disasters were all cited as reasons for the new prediction.

Globally, the aviation sector had its profit margins slashed for the year to $4 billion from $8.6 billion, a figure forecast in March.

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Siemens alleges bribes in Kuwait German technology company Siemens has launched a bribery investigation against several former managers involved with its Kuwait unit, according to newspaper reports.

It is alleged that former employees

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had attempted to bribe officials of Kuwaitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s energy and water ministry with $1.8million for a future project, an article in the Financial Times claims. The case had been detected by Siemensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; compliance unit.

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X`ic`e\ iXeb\[ X_\X[ f] ;\lkjZ_\ ++++++++++++++++++++++++ The railway will link the pilgrimage cities Co, will see ABB supply 380kV indoor gas++++++++++++++++++++++++ Cl]k_XejX Xe[ ;\ckX# k_fl^_ 8`i ++++++++++++++++++++++++ of Mecca and Medina via the King Abdullah insulated switchgear that are a key component =iXeZ\$BCD nflc[ _Xm\ iXeb\[ ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Economic City, Rabigh, Jeddah and King of new substations that will power the 444km ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Ă&#x201D;ijk _X[ `kj knf dX`e fg\iXk`e^ ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Abdulaziz International Airport.

Haramain rail line currently under construction. le`kj Y\\e ZfdY`e\[# XZZfi[`e^ ++++++++++++++++++++++++ k_\ iXeb`e^j% Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expected to reduce traffic congestion on ABB will design, supply, install and ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++ the roads and cut travel time between the two commission the GIS by the middle of 2013, the ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++ holy cities from six hours to two. company said in a statement.

project focus

On the Radar

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Saudi awards $85m Mecca-Medina rail contract

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Bidding due for $36bn Qatar railway Qatar will offer the first tender to contractors around the world for its metro system in the next two months, according to Abdullah al-Subaie, managing director of the Qatar Railways Company.

The Qatar railway project will reach QR130 billion

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($35.7 billion) and require more than 1.2 million tonnes of iron.

Al-Subaie said there will be a total of 100 stations in the project contracts being put out for tender and include digging tunnels and constructing train platforms.

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We work with a wide variety of clients, predominantly expats (including those from the Indian sub continent), in addition to a few affluent local and expat Arab customers. ?fn _Xm\ cfZXcj kXb\e kf Xe <e^c`j_ jkpc\ f] kX`cfi`e^6

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We have found that it has taken a while for people in the Middle East who are not familiar with custom tailoring and the Savile Row ethic to warm to our concept, especially in an environment where people are brand-conscious and there is a tendency to expect things instantly.

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We offer an array of different services that include custom tailoring for suits, jackets, trousers, shirts and shorts.

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Yes. Custom made shirts start at about Dh500 and are an ideal option for the client who doesn’t want to go through the suit ordering process.

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The recession did impact our business strategy; at the height of Dubai’s boom, people were spending excessively and we thought we would fit into that superior income bracket, but, like everyone, we had to stay flexible and focus on how we could adapt our core product range into a new economic landscape. We chose to base our business on garments that were both affordable and personalised.

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We have introduced a ‘Cool Effect’ fabric by Zegna, which reflects sunlight, therefore making you feel cooler by up to 10 per cent – our clients swear by it. We also suggest that you opt for breathable. lightweight fabrics (so stay away from synthetics). Also don’t wear blue if you are prone to perspiration.

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Saudi lends $1.3bn for Emaar project The Saudi Arabian government has agreed a SAR5 billion ($1.33 billion) loan to launch the construction of its King Abdullah Economic City project, a 168-square-kilometre development on the Red Sea north of Jeddah.

The project, a publicly listed joint venture from Emaar Economic City, brings together Saudi investors and the Dubaibased developer Emaar. It is the largest private-sector development in the kingdom.

The loan is expected to boost development activity in the city after a sluggish 2010, analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note to clients.

The kingdom had recently announced plans to bolster its construction industry by generating nearly $450 billion in construction contracts in the next five years, according to data released at the Arabian World Construction Summit in Abu Dhabi.

The Saudi ministry of finance is giving Emaar 10 years to repay the loan, with repayment starting after three years.

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COMMENT

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Mishal Kanoo is deputy chairman, Kanoo Group.

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REE TRADE IS WHAT WE NEED. FREE TRADE is the basis for economic growth. Free trade will set us free... pardon the pun. What a lie! The basic concept is that competition makes things better for the consumer. Anyone who believes that competition makes us better should see how he or she feels about that concept when it comes to his or her spouse or children’s attention. Some competition is good to keep us on our feet but constant competition can have a disastrous effect.

Most messiahs of the free trade mantra are liars. The secondary problem is that the lie, once it starts to unravel, forces us to believe it more; because we don’t want to admit the truth: that we were duped into a false belief.

Let me start with the secondary problem. We are taught that competition through free trade benefits us all. Really? Let’s test this theory. A company invents a product that is promoted to be important in our lives, say, the car. After the hard work of convincing customers that this is the best thing ever to help humanity, other manufacturers buy into the concept and enter the market. Great so far. Now everyone gets excited as there are two manufacturers and, in principle, the price should go down.

But it doesn’t fall enough and the margins are still healthy enough for others to take the plunge. This still doesn’t drive the prices down enough until the market is flooded by countless others. Then the prices sink so much that some manufacturers die a natural death. In economist parlance, we call this equilibrium. The problem is that is doesn’t stop there. This savage rationing continues while prices plunge and companies go bust.

There are those who promote free trade as the best solution for all

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economic woes, but they are usually the first ones who fall back on government support when things tank.

They say we should open our doors but they firmly shut theirs. They fight off others from entering their markets yet they believe that flooding yours is perfectly normal.

Amid the financial crisis, Western governments immediately propped up failing companies under the guise of ‘too big to fail’. The hypocrisy of it was obvious to all. The way they shut up their detractors was by scaring them by saying the world economy would collapse if they hadn’t didn’t save those companies. But why would the world collapse if free trade did its role as they promised and one bank took over another? Ah! Because all their banks became insolvent. And how did that happen? Because they all believed their own lies of ever-expanding without fearing the consequences as they knew that big brother was looking out for them. That’s not free trade that’s unfair trade.

Look into the history of all those countries that today want the world to buy into this false religion of free trade and you will see that no one smells of protectionism more than they do. Now China is knocking on the door and what are those very same countries now saying about free trade? They now want fair trade not free trade. Why? Because they know that their religion is false and, when exposed to the light of someone else taking over the lead, they collapse.

Today, we in the Gulf, are told we should open our shores to competition. Our airline industry is now being attacked under that guise. They want us to pull down all the barriers on our airlines from an economic fairness point of view. In reality, they want us to give up our competitatve edge and allow them to roll over us. I don’t see them giving up their economies of scale to allow us to compete with them, nor do I see them giving us more space to fly into.

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COMMENT

K?< 9LCC ILE @E >:: JFM<I<@>E ;<9K Matein Khalid is fund manager in a royal investment office and a writer in finance and geopolitics.

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T IS IRONIC THAT THE GCC SOVEREIGN CREDIT market has remained relatively immune from the escalating violence in Libya, Yemen and Syria. Saudi, Qatari and UAE sovereign and quasisovereign issuers borrow sukuk/Eurobonds at the lowest yields since the uprisings in Tunisia overthrew the regime of President Ben Ali back in January. When unrest first swept across the Arab world, all MENA bonds/ sukuk prices fell in unison as credit spreads widened on risk aversion and panic selling. Six months later, the debt markets scrambled to buy the bonds of oil and gas rich, capital exporting states with stable regimes not assailed by violence or insurgencies. Arab sovereign bonds now trade on country specific financial, not regional macro-political, criteria. Investors in the MENA debt market have finally grasped the nuances of country-risk and differentiate the credit spectrum that exists across the Arab world.

Of course, the GCC debt market does not exist in isolation. Soft US economic data, aggressive buying by Asian central banks and safe haven flows from the Greek crisis have led to a spectacular fall in the yield on 10 year US Treasury bonds, whose yield is now 2.95 per cent and the five year US Treasury note trades at 1.56 per cent. As Uncle Sam’s debt yields plummet, so do the yields of all emerging and frontier market debt. Yet MENA debt has actually outperformed the JP Morgan Chase emerging market debt’s four per cent performance in 2011. The fall in bond yields and sovereign credit default swap (CDS) spreads has been most pronounced in the GCC, though even Egypt’s April 2020 maturity bellwether yield trades at 5.54 per cent, the level just before the endgame for the Mubarak regime began in Tahrir Square five months ago. However,

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the capital markets are still nervous about Egypt, as its CDS is 300 points.

It is, of course, no coincidence that Bahrain is the worst performing sovereign bond market in the GCC, with its yields now on its 2020 bonds even higher than Egypt at 5.80 per cent. The debt markets are more sanguine about the political and fiscal equation in Cairo than in Manama. The catalyst for the rally in the GCC debt market was the absence of violence or mass unrest in Saudi Arabia’s Day of Rage in March. The CDS on the largest economy of the Arab world plummeted from 145 basis points in March to a mere 94 basis points now. In essence, the international capital market has concluded that the kingdom has defused any political time bomb with its epic $130 billion social spending/housing programme. Yet the promise of a $10 billion GCC Marshal Plan fund did not lead to yield compression in Bahrain sovereign debt.

Apart from lower US Treasury bond yields, the last six months witnessed a spectacular rise in North Sea Brent prices, a revenue windfall for the major GCC oil exporters (Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi, UAE). This was the reason GCC bond yields ignored the potential of higher post-crisis budget break-even oil prices and government spending. GDP growth rates across the Arab world will differ dramatically in 2011 – 2012. Qatar has one of the world’s highest growth economies, due to high LNG export volumes and pricing while Tunisia and Egypt could well have zero GDP growth.

The credit default swap market gives hints for the future of Arab debt. The Syrian bloodbath means Lebanon trades at 335 basis points as sovereign and banking risk in Beirut surges. Yet Abu Dhabi trades at the same low level as Qatar at 90 basis points, meaning safe havens with zero political risk. I believe GCC debt is priced to perfection now. Why? After the OPEC fiasco in Vienna, oil prices will fall. Two, Egypt faces a political vacuum and Syria/Yemen a descent into chaos. Three, US Treasury bond yields do not compensate investors for two per cent inflation. Four, risk aversion will hit emerging markets debt, including GCC/MENA. Five, a regional bubble is evident as even dubious credits were oversubscribed.

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COMMENT

9L@C;@E> 8 :FIGFI8K< JF:@<KP Dr Tommy Weir, advisor on fast-growth and emerging market leadership, and author of The CEO Shift

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URING AN INTERVIEW WITH SAUDI’S English newspaper, Arab News, in August 2009, I accurately predicted what has become known as the Arab Spring.

I was quoted as saying, “The kingdom is facing a shortage of nationals with corporate leadership qualities and there is an unprecedented imbalance in the expat-national ratio when it comes to holding private sector leadership postings. If I were the government of Saudi Arabia, this is the issue I’d be most concerned about. The kingdom is experiencing one of the largest youth bulges in the world and what this means is that unemployment is going to escalate if Saudi Arabia does not tackle the shortage of Saudi leaders in the private sector.”

Whenever a country has a disproportionate percentage of young people coupled with limited job availability in the private sector, it means reform or revolt. Today, nobody is arguing with the reality of the heightened prospects of unemployment and the relative national impact. Now the debate is about what to do next.

Following years of rhetoric, governments are now taking action to try and remedy the fractured private sector job market and imbalance. This requires more than the proposed six-year visa limitations, educational reform, existing sponsored programmmes and legacy nationalisation programmes. What is needed is to accept the fact that the region is a first-generation corporate society and a right-fit plan to build a corporate mentality and skills.

Well, in order to solve this, we need to understand the fundamentals.

This is relevant for every leader in the region whether new to the market, a pillar of the community, a national or an expatriate. The fundamentals are:

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While the rise of the corporate mentality has accelerated in the past decade with market progression and advancement of the cities, for all practical purposes, this generation is the first in their families to truly enter the private sector.

J8EJ DF;<IE@KP The Arab world (and most of Asia) rose to power well after the establishment of the industrial revolution, not with it. So in other words, it jumped over the modern revolution making it a society that rose without (sans) modernity – the era of industrialisation.

Now, what needs to be done? Government programmes and the private sector need to invest heavily in building a corporate mindset and skills.

As there are many success stories in the private sector across the region we should learn from them.

The six key insights include having: ■ Performance orientation ■ Business acumen ■ Private sector work habits ■ Resilience ■ Confidence ■ Entrepreneurship This region is in a very unique position due to the imbalance of the age of its population. It is working against time and tradition as local managers and leaders are needed more rapidly than is typically required to develop the expected level of capability.

As a result, heavy investment is needed in leadership development on the front-end. The market will experience waves of people joining the work force and moving through it. Therefore, development activities and legislation are needed to match this.

While the emphasis on job creation and the curtailing of expat dependency is timely, it must be coupled with the private and public sector joining together to build the first generation corporate members into a corporate society.

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T FIRST GLANCE, it seems like all of Beirut is under development, as cranes and construction fill up the

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city with elaborate new commercial and residential projects in various stages of completion. At prime real estate sites all over Lebanon, a significant number of developers are promoting their ambitious projects – however, on closer inspection, they are not Lebanese firms, but GCC. In a country where the average national wage is $900 (the official minimum wage is $200) per month, the wellworn complaint on the street is that the Lebanese are being priced out of their

own property market by cash-rich buyers from the GCC. This is mostly the case in Beirut and likely began in the post-war 1990s when the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri – a long-time resident of the KSA and dual passport holder – attracted petrodollar investment to redevelop Beirut’s Central District, via the creation of the Solidere publicly-listed company. The firm’s plush creation – completely rebuilding Beirut’s central district – has arguably created an

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The early 2000s also saw a massive wave of GCC investment in Lebanon.

“The last two huge Gulf acquisitions in Lebanon were in downtown Beirut in the first half of 2006, with the Phoenician village and Beirut Gate. One was by a Kuwaiti group and the other was by an Abu Dhabi investment company,” says Raja Makaram, founder and managing director of Beirut-based Ramco real estate advisors, established in 1973. “These represented around 200,000 buildable square-metres each, and the acquisitions were made at around $250-300 million dollars each,” adds Makarem.

But others are of the view GCC investment in Lebanon now is as strong as ever. New developments, in Beirut especially, are visible everywhere and are largely being put up by GCC money and developers. “According to the IMF between 2002–2007, 60 per cent of foreign direct investment to Lebanon was from the GCC, with more than half of that in real estate.

Lebanon also gets one third of all GCC foreign direct investment in the MENA region,” says Dr. Walid Hazbun at the American University of Beirut. More recent figures of GCC investment in Lebanese real estate, since 2007, “are likely higher.”

Today, some of the Gulf’s biggest developers such as Nakheel, Damac, Al Futtaim, to name a few, are highly visible in Lebanon’s real estate and development sphere – not including a previous wave of development in hotels which drew in big Gulf names, such as Habtoor and Rotana.

The result of Gulf-style projects in Lebanon for Gulf-buyers and a debatable

numbers of Lebanese who can afford them, is questionable. “It’s transforming the image of the city as well as the living experience for everybody. In some ways it helps push the developments Solidere began in a more extreme and socially unfriendly direction,” says Hazbun. “The hotel district at the edge of downtown is not a very pedestrian friendly area to walk through. Without Gulf investment it’s possible it wouldn’t have completely gone in that direction. It might have been more mixed in terms of the kinds of developments and projects.”

Major GCC projects being built include Al Futtaim’s 60,000 sq. metre mall, in a Beirut suburb, and Emaar’s $800 million gated residential community in the mountains overlooking Beirut, called Beit Misk. DAMAC is building a luxury apartment building with interiors designed

by Versace, in the Solidere development.

“The rate of usage of these properties is quite low,” says Hazbun referring to Solidere as an example. “They mimic projects in the Gulf, which of course mimic projects in other cities. Every evening how many people are living in them? You get tall buildings but you don’t get urban density.”

“We estimate that about half the people currently buying property in Lebanon are Lebanese expatriates, who have been working away, and want to secure a property to live in when they eventually return home,” says Niall McLoughlin, senior vice president, Damac Properties.

“We are also seeing strong interest from the Gulf, as people look to invest in a holiday home in Beirut.”

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the DAMAC Tower in Beirut is $700,000.

Makarem says the Lebanese public have a distorted view of GCC investment: “There is a fallacy in the opinion of people here – there is an over exaggeration of Gulf interest in Lebanon,” he says. “After the war of 2006, there were some huge brakes put on Gulf investment in Lebanon, for political reasons.”

Despite attempts at contacting them, representatives from Al Futtaim and Emaar were not available to comment.

“There are strong economic fundamentals underpinning growth in Lebanon’s property market,” says Damac’s McLoughlin. “The IMF is predicting economic growth of between four and five per cent this year, and the expanding economy is fuelling population growth, which is currently outpacing the supply of available accommodation. Increasing demand for housing is pushing up rental prices [in Beirut], which are now the highest in the Middle East.

“The real estate sector in Lebanon is underpinned by strong economic growth, a highly liquid banking system and strong demand, which is currently outpacing supply,” he adds.

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T WAS FAR from business-as-usual at OPEC’s 159th meeting in Vienna in June. Early rumours from the Saudi Arabia camp all pointed to a definite increase in production and the conference began in an optimistic mood with the market expecting more oil. The international media carried the message loud and clear and markets reacted favourably to the downside. So the world reacted with shock when the OPEC president and acting Minister of Petroleum from Iran announced that the ministers were unable to reach a decision.

“The most important issue is the production ceiling,” he said. “No-one really opposed the production increase but it was the timing and the amount of the increase that was discussed.”

The uncertain state of the global economy was top of the agenda, as was the need to replace missing barrels due to the unrest in Libya. The OPEC Secretary General, Abdalla Salem el-Badri assured the market there was no danger of a shortage of oil, but said a unanimous decision was not possible.

“OPEC is not in crisis,” he said and emphasised there was plenty of spare capacity and enough oil on the market despite this situation. “We debated very thoroughly, we have many points of view but, unfortunately, we were unable to reach a consensus to change production.”

This surprise announcement caught the market off guard and the oil price rose in afternoon trading. Analysts might not have welcomed this situation, but some could appreciate the dilemma OPEC faced. “There were definitely some tensions,” said Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics, “but everyone has to do business and countries have different views on what the future of demand looks like.”

El-Badri also emphasised there was plenty of spare capacity available, more than four million barrels and said “the object was to increase the production in the third and fourth quarter,” where OPEC data sees a rise in demand. He added that it was “the uncertainty of the world GDP growth, global inflation, unemployment, sovereign debt and

manufacturing decline that made the decision very difficult.”

Sean Evers, managing partner of The Gulf Intelligence, based in Dubai, said OPEC usually managed to find consensus at meetings and said it was interesting that this time, “they chose to emphasise there was disagreement.” He added that it was also important they clearly signalled to the market that “there were some members who wanted to increase the quota and Saudi Arabia, particularly, wanted to increase quotas.”

While the oil price shot up temporarily after the meeting, it has since calmed down with WTI trading below $100 a barrel and Brent Crude still around $111 a barrel. Speaking in London in June El-Badri stressed that $100 oil was “not harming the global economy.”

Many OPEC ministers hope the situation will be solved with behind-thescenes dialogue in the coming months.

According to El-Badri, the OPEC members can handle this disagreement amicably, additional oil needed on the market will be met by individual members and Saudi Arabia has made it clear they will take the lead.

An extraordinary meeting can be called later in the year if need be but, for now, the next scheduled meeting of the OPEC conference will be in early December in Vienna. Industry watchers and analysts hope it will be business as usual at OPEC’s 160th conference.

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HILE THE WEALTHY in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) are forecast to grow their assets under management by 50 per cent to $6.7 trillion by 2015, the wealth managers that will benefit most from the Gulfâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s high density of millionaires will be local players, according to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Of the $2 trillion of assets under management for wealthy households in the Gulf in 2010, 52 per cent was held onshore, according to BCGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2010 Global Wealth report revealed in June. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Over the last 10 years, the onshore part has come up five percentage points,â&#x20AC;? said Sven-Olaf Vathje, partner and managing director at BCG Middle East. Although regional investors continue to be riskaverse, the current political unrest is unlikely to alter their concentration of

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wealth domestically, except in countries directly hit by the turmoil, due to the strong economic story, BCG officials said.

The growth in the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s overall wealth is in tandem with the global trend. In 2010, global assets under management grew by eight per cent to $121.8 trillion from a year earlier, surpassing the previous peak of $111.8 trillion in 2007, on the back of equity market recovery.

Global wealth is forecast to reach $162 trillion in 2015, according to the report, which excludes property. In MEA, assets under management grew 8.6 per cent to $4.5 trillion in 2010 from a year earlier â&#x20AC;&#x201C; however, the recovery in MEA began in 2009 when wealth jumped to $4.1 trillion from $3.6 trillion in 2008. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Recovery was quick in the Middle East because the general tendency to hold equities is less in the Middle East than in other parts of the world,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; said Vathje.

While Singapore boasted the highest proportion of millionaire households in 2010, Saudi Arabia witnessed the highest density of ultra-wealthy households, defined as those with more than $100 million in assets under management.

Kuwait, Qatar and UAE also made it to

the top 10 list in terms of the highest proportion of millionaire households. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why you see a lot of international players suddenly setting up shop in the region because the competition is heating up for these clients,â&#x20AC;? said Vathje.

The financial crisis enabled local players to wrestle portions of the asset management pie from global competitors as the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wealthy repatriated offshore funds to manage liquidity when bank lending ground to a halt. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We saw a lot of inflow of funds from offshore accounts because many of the wealthy households are also entrepreneurs and they needed funding for their businesses,â&#x20AC;? said Vathje. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Once the funds were here some of the local banks did a good job of retaining the money.â&#x20AC;?

Traditionally, regional investors tend to hold their cash and deposits locally, while allocating the management of their equity portfolios, which are mostly in international markets, to offshore operators.

Local wealth managers could also gain from the investorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; growing appetite for Gulf equities and capital-protected

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MMEDIATELY AFTER THE fall of the Gulf economy in 2009, many questions were asked. In Dubai, where the search for millions of lost dollars frequently ended with turning out the lining of the CEO’s pockets, the calls were most urgent. What went wrong? How did we lose the money? The answer is simple: no-one was looking.

Since then, the UAE has taken strident steps towards a corporate governance framework with the aim of making companies more transparent and accountable. In April 2010, Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (ESCA) updated the Code of Corporate Governance for Joint-Stock Companies.

According to the new code listed companies on UAE securities markets must have a minimum of 30 per cent independent director representation and

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separate the role of chairman and CEO. However, research from Hawkamah Institute of Corporate Governance shows a wide gap between legislation and reality with an estimated 56 per cent of listed companies in the MENA region having no more than one independent director and 42.3 per cent of companies still combining the function of chairman and CEO. John Martin St. Valery, partner at NxDglobal, a new firm that match-makes companies with potential independent directors says that an independent party adds strength, vitality and credibility to the board.

“Instead of viewing the independent director as a ‘tick the box’ exercise, companies must realise that a truly independent board member can not only bring new expertise and strategy to the equation, but this framework also attracts investors. With any external parties, the first thing they want to see is transparency,” he adds.

“Owner directors have always been slightly autocratic. Progressive and forward-thinking companies have recognised that disclosure – though it might sound uncomfortable initially –

raises the perception of a company to potential stakeholders.”

Founded in January this year, the NxDglobal service identifies, screens and recommends independent directors that are suited to the needs of its clients.

But what makes a truly independent board member?

“Well obviously they can’t be related or married to anyone in the company, or work at the company or have any interests in the company,” says St. Valery.

The partner adds that most non-executive directorships are paid, except in some cases where the director is so committed to the cause – often a government cause – that they are willing to give their time for free.

“It is a stringent vetting process so that we understand their background education and the particular sector in which they want to work – some apply to us, and some we approach directly. It’s important for us to match them properly,” says St.Valery.

“Prior to launch we had 12 individuals and four companies. We are going through the process of supplying to firms.”

Regulatory enforcement of the number of independent directors on the boards of UAE-based public joint stock companies in directly linked to the improvement of conditions for foreign investment; postrecession, this directive is more important than ever, “ESCA has made great progress in collecting the corporate governance disclosures from 70 per cent of listed companies in the UAE, but we must see this increased to 100 per cent,” said Nick Nadal, director, Hawkamah, at a recent panel meeting, suggesting that stronger enforcement measures may be required to ensure full compliance.

St Valery agrees that force may be the next government measure, but says that companies would be churlish not to realise the already innate benefits of independent directorship. Not least, being able to keep tabs on where the money is going.

“The financial crisis unearthed the inextricable link between independence and corporate governance. In a boom market some of these things don’t come to mind, but in a crisis the holes are exposed,” he says.

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HE JUST-RELEASED BP Statistical Review of World Energy remains a seminal guide to trends in the global energy industry. In his introduction, CEO Bob Dudley said global energy consumption rebounded strongly in 2010 after the recession. Consumption growth reached 5.6 per cent, the highest rate since 1973, increasing strongly for all forms of energy and in all regions. “Total consumption of energy in 2010 easily surpassed the pre-recession peak reached in 2008,” he said.

While emerging economy consumption continued to rise rapidly, the big surprise was that OECD countries also saw growth well above average, he said.

Globally, energy consumption grew more rapidly than the economy, so that the energy intensity of economic activity increased for a second consecutive year.

Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel consumption will also have likely grown strongly last year.

To take the data at face value, the world has around 40 years of oil left, 50 years of natural gas and 120 years of coal,

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although this does not account for future discoveries of reserves.

Total global proved oil reserves have risen from 1.003 trillion barrels in 1990 to 1.383 trillion barrels, an average annual increase of 1.62 per cent. In 2010, the Middle East (excluding North Africa) accounted for 54.4 per cent of world oil reserves, but only 30.3 per cent of production. In a sign of the tightness of global oil markets, 2010 consumption was well ahead of production.

In 2010, global daily oil consumption stood at 87.4 million barrels a day, up 3.9 per cent on the previous year and 6.4 per cent above 2010 production of 82.1 mbd, thus eating into reserve stocks.

Total global proved gas reserves stood at 187.1 trillion cubic metres in 2010, up from 125.7 tcm in 1990, an average annual increase of two per cent. LNG imports as a share of total imports stood at 30.52 per cent in 2010, up from 27.7 per cent in 2009, a sign that strategies like Qatar’s are headed in the right direction. Gas pricing remains anomalistic, depending on regional demand and delivery mechanism.

The emergence of US shale gas, deeper deposits requiring more advanced drilling techniques, could yet threaten the LNG strategies of major exporters Qatar and, increasingly, Australia.

The Russian Federation remains the largest holder of global gas reserves at 23.9 per cent, followed by Iran, with 15.8 per cent and Qatar with 13.5 per cent. Iran continues to be completely hamstrung by

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One of the clearest messages to emerge from the report is perhaps also one of the more coded. In reserves to production terms, that is, the number of years a country can produce given known reserves at current production levels, no region can produce oil for more than 100 years, gas for more than 200 years, or coal for more than 300 years. This is a clear sign of the increasing importance of gas over oil, as is being demonstrated in international energy markets.

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RITER BILL BRYSON called Perth the remotest city on earth yet, with the highest concentration of millionaires in the world, and tied for eighth place in the Economist’s 2010 list of the world’s most liveable cities, Perth’s easy-going, sun blessed lifestyle set on the Indian Ocean is the envy of many.

Its hinterland, Western Australia, which comprises the westernmost third of the island continent’s land-mass, has a population of only 2.3 million people: yet,

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only eight countries in the world have a larger area. Some 60 per cent of Australia’s exports come from the sprawling western state: mining and oil and gas form the backbone of its economy but, says its Prime Minister, Colin Barnett, “the state is much more than that.”

Barnett was in the UAE at the beginning of June to foster ties in Western Australia’s agriculture and alumina trade with the GCC and “further encourage what is a very rapidly growing business, in education, health and cultural relationships. The goal is to move closer to the UAE in the years to come and relations are strong, along with those with Singapore, China, Japan and Korea.”

The minerals story is one of astonishing quality, scale and diversity: the state is the source of 21 per cent of all iron ore

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produced in the world, and some 37 per cent traded internationally, dominating the global market, along with Brazil. The state also accounts for seven per cent of the world’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) production, 18 per cent of alumina, 12 per cent of nickel, seven per cent of gold and 25 per cent of the world’s mineral sands.

Around 500 mineral and hydrocarbons projects are now under way on- and offshore. Alumina, refined from bauxite, is a key input to the aluminium industry, a key industry in the UAE. Around 66 per cent of Australia’s exports to China and 42 per cent to Japan are sourced from the state. Of the Chinese investment funds entering Australia, 80 per cent are destined there. “This is a historic period of expansion,” declares Barnett, accompanied by “a leap in

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Australia is exporting 17mtpa and expects this to increase to 60mtpa by the end of the decade, in contrast to Qatar’s current 77mtpa production capacity.

The state sees itself as where the Gulf of Mexico was 30 years ago, so the story is likely to run and run. Chevron is now largely an Australian company, Barnett claims, and has made the hydrocarbons industry’s largest ever investments, totalling $43 billion, in the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects, among others.

“Most of its assets are now in Western Australia,” he says.

The state is carefully diversifying its economy in a manner familiar to the GCC and meetings on food security and the sourcing of agricultural products from Australia to the GCC were a highlight of his trip. Agriculture dominates Western Australia’s exports and it is a trading ‘nation’ “very much as the UAE,” accounting for 44 per cent of Australia’s total exports.

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productive capacity, being driven largely by development in China, India and Korea.”

As part of one of the greatest investment cycles ever seen, China surpassed Japan’s steel production of 100 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) in 1996. In 2010, it produced 586mtpa, while Japan’s output still stood at 100mtpa. China’s steel production is expected to plateau at 1,100mtpa in the next decade or so.

Western Australia provides a staggering 40 per cent of the iron ore inputs to the Chinese juggernaut. “Remember, China is still a developing nation,” says Barnett.

The state is expected to double iron ore production by the end of the decade. The Pilbara iron ore region alone will bring two new complete iron ore ports and two-four entirely new heavy haulage rail systems online to cope.

Barnett, however, dismisses accusations that Western Australia’s economy is simply a “dig it up, dig it out” economy. “This is not the trend of modern mining.” Rio Tinto has built a 1,500km railway in the Pilbara, comprising a fleet that runs 30-car trains by remote control. “The industry is changing,” he says. He estimates that $100 billion of projects have been finalised and that a further $200 billion are in various stages of planning over the next five to seven years.

Barnett admits that Qatar is a world LNG leader with gas resources – at 13.5 per cent of the total – that dwarf Australia’s, at only two per cent of world reserves. He estimates that his state has reserves of 150 trillion cubic feet (tcf), a figure likely to increase to 200 tcf, a resource for at least the next 100 years.

As a clean, more flexible energy source, world LNG demand, particularly in Asia, is expected to keep rising. At present,

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There is much to discuss on resource security between the UAE and Australia, and Barnett said this was a key issue in his talks with Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, and other Dubai officials on June 2.

“Australian farms are generally not corporate entities,” says Barnett, implying that this could be an obstacle to GCC firms looking to acquire Australian agricultural assets. Qatar’s Hassad Food bought the prestigious Kaladbro sheep farming estate in Victoria last year, while other regional companies are looking to follow suit.

Wheat, livestock and chilled meat are a key export from which the UAE can benefit. Today, Australian farmers are struggling with grain price volatility, and are looking to the UAE to assist in certainty of supply to overcome the fragility caused by bad crop years.

In October, as a sign of its burgeoning status worldwide, Western Australia will host the Queen and 63 prime ministers in the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit. Barnett took the 150-turnout in Abu Dhabi as a similar compliment to the state of Western Australia and summed up its approach to making its way in the world: “I believe in doing limited things, but doing them superbly.”

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EWLY IMPORTED WORKERS toil inside steel tanks on a farm in Mustaffah, Abu Dhabi. But this labour isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t going into building up the emirateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new urban skyline. Instead, the workers in question are sturgeon, flown in from Frankfurt, Germany, as the foundation for the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest indoor caviar farm run by the Royal Caviar Company.

The factory currently contains about 18 tonnes of the fish and it expects the delivery of another 124 tonnes this year.

The first production of caviar and sturgeon fillets is scheduled for late this year. Royal Caviar expects to begin commercial sale of its osetra caviar by the second half of 2012. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Abu Dhabi is an ideal location for distribution to the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growing markets

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for high quality caviar,â&#x20AC;? said Robert Harper, group commercial director for the Bin Salem Group, which is leading the project.

Abu Dhabiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s taste for caviar has grown alongside its economic prowess.

Though Russian and other European expatriates are still the biggest customers locally, restaurateurs said the increasingly sophisticated palate of Emiratis and other Gulf residents were boosting demand for the delicacy. And executives said Royal Caviarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s location in the Gulf makes it an ideal distribution point to satiate booming appetites for the eggs in Far East markets, especially China. One gram of the Emirati caviar will cost between $4 to $6.

Harper said world demand for caviar is estimated at 400 tonnes a year. Right now, only about 120 is produced annually. Wild sturgeon from the Caspian Sea was placed on the endangered species list in 2006.

Farms like Royal Caviar plan to help fill that gap in supply. At full production in 2015, the 50,000-square-metre facility will crank out 35 tonnes of caviar and 700 tonnes of sturgeon meat annually.

Royal Caviar is a partnership between Bin Salem and United Food Technologies of Germany, which specialises in aquaculture facilities. The $120 million facility features a state-of-the-art monitoring system that will ensure the sensitive fish are swimming along in an optimal environment.

Temperatures will be kept from 15 degrees Celsius to 20 degrees Celsius, depending on where the fish is in its growth cycle. Technicians will use ultrasound when the fish are three-yearsold to separate the males from the females â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the former go on to become sturgeon fillets. At four-and-a-half-years old, another ultrasound is performed to determine if the roe are ready to eat.

After the eggs have been harvested and the fish fillets cut, the rest of the fish â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the skin, bones and head â&#x20AC;&#x201C; will be ground into compost and used as fertiliser. About 90 per cent of the water in each of the tanks will be recycled through a filtration system.

Any wastewater will be turned over to the Abu Dhabi Municipality as grey water for use in irrigation throughout the city.

Since Caspian and Siberian sturgeon need at least four years to produce caviar, Royal Caviar flew in 22 fish from Germany to help stock the tanks in the meantime. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This year we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t expect a profit, but we expect a profit by the second year and positive cash flow,â&#x20AC;? says Michel Nassour, Bin Salemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chief financial officer.

To kick off the hatchery, United Technologies made a gift to Royal Caviar of 20 rare albino European sturgeon, from which the first batch of wholly Emirati caviar will be harvested. In the meantime, the company plans to unveil its line of retail products this fall. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We will make caviar available and approachable, even if it is an elite product,â&#x20AC;? Harper says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We will help more people obtain caviar and make it a part of their special occasion protocol.â&#x20AC;?

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dinner party,” says Tom Nauwelaerts, managing director of Al Futtaim Logistics.

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O SOME THE term corporate team building may sound gimmicky, and for others it might raise eyebrows, but considering the boom in these events in the UAE, it’s safe to hypothesise that the concept is perhaps a bit misunderstood. But that seems to be changing fast, as team building events are fast being adopted by companies of all shapes and sizes in the UAE, and are increasingly being integrated into annual business plans.

Corporate team building is not simply throwing a staff barbecue or dinner.

Nor is it handing a couple of free cinema tickets to the employee of the month.

Simply put, it’s an organised challenge for employees of a firm (or firms), in which staff work together to achieve a common goal and, in doing so, develop their relationships with each other. It might sound like another day at the office, except the challenges corporate team building events offer are rather fun.

In February, a total of 80 corporate teams, comprised of five to seven

players, participated in an inter company team building and networking event known as the Hercules Trophy in Dubai. Held for the first time outside its native Belgium, the event at the Sevens Stadium featured 12 ‘labours’ or sporting challenges with a fun twist designed to help players master teamwork and increase company loyalty.

The event attracted teams from a slew of top companies such as Middle East jobs site Bayt.com, cosmetics giant Estée Lauder, Al Futtaim Logistics, international relocation firm MoveOne, FedEx Express, the Dubai Ladies Club, and cargo and logistics firm Danzas – whose team won the inaugural Hercules Trophy.

“It’s about developing a great team spirit, and this is what you take back to the workplace,” said Michael Buckley, general manager – Global Forwarding, at Danzas AEI Emirates LLC, the winning team at the inaugural Hercules Event.

“The results of a good team building event are so much better than a typical social function like an annual staff

><KK@E> @K I@>?K Hazel Jackson is the CEO of Bizevents, the leading ‘team building’ company in the UAE, and local representatives of the Hercules Trophy.

Jackson says the idea of team building events has grown steadily since the company kicked off in 2004.

“Companies need to use multiple ways to foster and promote teamwork. Good team building products are strategically designed to meet specific behavioural needs – improving communication; building belief in the team; problem solving together; unleashing creativity,” she says. “Team bonding is also important – it’s about sharing an experience together and having fun.”

The type of companies that participate in team building events are a mix between multi-national brands and government-affiliated entities, explains

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While the 2009 recession saw a 30 per cent drop in team building numbers and revenue, business in 2010 bounced back with an overall 34 per cent increase, to 2007–2008 levels.

The first-quarter of 2011 is also looking rosy, as business is up again on the first-quarter of 2010 by 43 per cent.

Yves Vekemans, co-founder of the Hercules Trophy in Belgium 15 years ago, says: “In Dubai and the UAE, people understand the connection between sports, business and entertainment”.

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But all eyes are on Saudi Arabia â&#x20AC;&#x201C; holder of a fifth of global oil reserves, and next in line for a nuclear shift.

The kingdom is currently struggling to reduce its overarching dependence on crude oil for domestic power generation.

The country must also keep pace with an increase in consumption sparked by population growth that is expected to lift peak-time power demand to over 120,000 megawatts (MW) by 2032 from around 50,000 MW in 2011, according to Abdullah Al-Shehri, governor of Saudi Arabiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Electricity and Co-Generation Regulatory Authority.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;To reach 120,000 MW, it is going to cost probably in the range of $250 billion,â&#x20AC;? said Al-Shehri on the sidelines of the Nuclear Power World conference held last month. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is likely going to be a mix of gas powered plants, nuclear and renewables and the rest will be covered by crude and heavy fuel.â&#x20AC;?

Saudi Arabia currently produces about 50 per cent of its power from burning crude oil and other products, with the remainder from gas. Saudi officials have said they would like to half the usage of fossil fuels in power generation, but this plan depends on several factors, including cost, feasibility, and oil prices.

Saudi Arabia created the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy to devise a strategy to introduce clean energy and the agency is expected to reveal a detailed plan this year.

If current power consumption levels persist, Saudi daily energy demand could more than double to over eight million barrels of oil a day by 2028 from 3.4 million barrels of oil a day in 2009, Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Aramcoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chief executive officer warned last year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fuel oil prices in the international markets rose last year and this year have

increased to a level where other options have become feasible,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; said al-Shehri.

All Gulf states, except gas-rich Qatar, are considering nuclear power generation and renewables due to their shortage of gas, increase in domestic consumption, and the need to free up oil used in power generation for export. Qatar, which sits on the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s third largest gas reserves, is the only Gulf country that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t experience power cuts in the peak consumption months of summer, when residents ramp up air-conditioning usage. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The major issue for the Arab states is how to improve their economic situation and avoid the blackouts that are seemingly spreading around the region because the energy grid is stressed,â&#x20AC;? said Theodore Karasik, the director of research and development at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.

The gas shortage is compounded by the Gulfâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s subsidised pricing of fuel and electricity â&#x20AC;&#x201C; plus poor insulation of buildings, which allows power to be wasted. Subsidised pricing is unlikely to be removed soon, particularly in these politically sensitive times, when governments are increasing social benefits to please a restless populace

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demanding better economic conditions. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In Saudi Arabia, the government is subsidising the fuel for power plants and this subsidy is roughly about 50 billion riyals with the current oil prices,â&#x20AC;? said al-Shehri.

Saudi Arabiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hunger for power is piquing the interest of local and international firms, who are expected to target the region more aggressively to make up for loss of business if more industrialised countries follow Germany and decide to abandon nuclear power.

Construction goliath Saudi Binladin

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But the nuclear option carries a set of risks for companies wishing to enter the Middle East. The recent protest wave may pose security risks that could be as dangerous as Japanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s propensity for

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earthquakes. Jordan, which has been trying for years to launch its own nuclear reactor, could fall victim to the perceived risk in building a nuclear plant in such a volatile region.

“Anyone who wants to invest will reassess the risk evaluation, and investors may raise the rate of return because they may consider it a risky project,” said Bahjat Aulimat, general planning section head at Jordan’s National Electric Power Co. Western states may be wary of giving the green-light for their allies in the region to build nuclear power reactors, only to see these regimes toppled by popular uprisings. Egypt had initiated plans for building nuclear reactors under the ousted rule of Hosni Mubarak, but a future leadership that is hostile to the West may not elicit support in seeking nuclear power and could even face sanctions, Iran being a case in point. While Iran has said its nuclear programme is peaceful and targeted at power generation, suspicions that it may be a covert programme to develop weapons has led to a series of UN sanctions.

Another issue is uranium enrichment – a technology privy only to a handful of states. The UAE has forfeited its right to uranium enrichment, but Jordan and Saudi Arabia are not ready yet to forego that

right. Jordan, in particular, has a greater impetus to protect its right, since it holds uranium resources. Jordan’s King Abdullah has also accused Israel of trying to block Jordan’s nuclear bid and the country has yet to conclude a nuclear co-operation agreement with the US, which wants to curtail its right to enrich uranium.

“Jordan has the 11th largest uranium reserves and Amman will pursue that option given that the international environment has changed so dramatically because of the Arab Spring; it doesn't matter what Israel and the US think,” said Karasik.

While nuclear power poses political challenges, the cost of building such plants is another hurdle to surmount.

For resource-barren Jordan, the nuclear option is needed to cut its dependence on imported Egyptian gas, which was used for more than 90 per cent of its power generation before attacks on the gas pipeline halted its flow this year.

The attacks forced Jordan to import oil products for power generation at a time when oil prices were spiralling out of control and the Jordanian government is subsidising prices. Jordan’s losses from the halt in Egyptian gas supply could top $1 billion in 2011, according to Aulimat.

Jordan is looking to build a 1,000 MW nuclear plant by 2020 to help meet

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the eight per cent annual increase in power consumption, which is expected to boost demand to 5,000 MW by 2020, from 3,000 MW now. It floated bids in January to build the plant and expects to receive proposals from three pre-qualified companies in July. It has plans to invite operators/investors to bid in July.

While Saudi Arabia is unlikely to face financing problems, Jordan has yet to lure investors to help foot the bill for its nuclear plant, which is expected to be financed 30 per cent via equity and the remainder through debt.

“There has been investment interest from UAE and Kuwait for the project in the last few months,” said Aulimat, adding that Jordan is also whispering into the ears of Islamic and Arab funds.

As industrialised countries balk at the radiation risk sparked by nuclear capacity, the increasing irony is that region with the world’s largest energy reserves is running short on power – and shorter on options.

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M% J_XebXi# :<F f] JkXe[Xi[ :_Xik\i\[# jXpj k_\ lei\jk `j `eÕXk`e^ YXeb`e^ nX^\j Ylk _\ “I would have said you’re crazy,” says V. Shankar, CEO of Standard Chartered for EMEA and the Americas, “if in January you’d come to me and said expect regime change in Tunisia, Egypt, plus what’s happened in Libya and Bahrain.

It has taken everyone by surprise, but when you have fundamental mega-events that change the world very often you can’t predict them.”

The political upheaval is a watershed moment for the Gulf, he says, but the writing was on the wall for a while. “If you look at all these places there is a commonality, including the increasing demographic of educated youth, growing use of social media, high unemployment and inflation.”

Bahrain’s uprisings, in particular, unnerved foreign banks operating in the Gulf. Political violence led to reports that +- & ALCP )'((

the likes of BNP Paribas, Citigroup, HSBC and Standard Chartered had lifted staff out of the kingdom.

But Shankar is defiant: “Despite what you read we have shifted nobody out of Bahrain. Everyone is in exactly the same place as they were in December. Even during the protests Dan Azzi, our co-head of wholesale banking, was in town and did not leave the country. The aim was to keep branches open every day.”

Standard Chartered has a sizeable presence in Bahrain, although it makes up less than one per cent of the bank’s global business. Shankar says overall the Gulf unrest has had little impact on the performance of the bank. His confidence caps a solid set of results last year, which saw the bank’s net profit in the Middle East and South Asia region more than double to $841 million. In the UAE

alone, its income grew six per cent to $1 billion. Standard Chartered, whose roots are traced to British colonial expansion in Africa and India in the 19th century and now earns most of its profit in Asia, is seeing the UAE emerge as a “standout performer”, says Shankar.

“Dubai has emerged as a regional safe haven and is benefiting from the unrest in its core areas of tourism, transportation and trade. The UAE government has provided support for banks by pumping in capital, therefore providing a floor for credit risk. Some banks still need to work out their legacy portfolios but with valuations improving and better macroeconomic conditions in general the picture is looking good.”

The anti-government movements in Bahrain, Oman, Egypt and Libya have pushed up the cost of borrowing across

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the region as well as raised oil prices, but it won’t hurt Dubai’s ability to refinance about $18 billion of loans this year, he says.

Dubai and its state-owned companies ran up debt of at least $129.3 billion, according to estimates by Credit Suisse Group, as the emirate developed its property, tourism, trade and financialservices industries.

Shankar says this financial legacy is unlikely to stoke political instability in the Emirates because of the high level of per capita affluence. “The chances of unrest are negligible to non-existent.

The local population is pretty well looked after. There’s been a far better distribution of wealth in the UAE, especially in the form of subsidies, than other countries in the region. Put it this way, you don’t see many poor Emiratis.

Plus, there’s a far higher degree of openess in the system which acts like a

pressure release valve. When you want to look for opportunities in the region for people that don’t belong to the royal family, the one place you stand a chance of having a meritocracy is Dubai.”

Bahrain, the smallest country in the Gulf with around 1.1 million inhabitants, established itself as a regional financial hub in the 1970s, long before the rise of Dubai and Doha. But a prolonged period of unrest in Bahrain could serve Doha and Dubai well as investors seek stability.

“The DIFC is the busiest I’ve ever seen it. This is also related to the fact that globally there’s been an economic recovery and people that left Dubai are coming back. Plus, office rental rates have been adjusted down to more realistic levels and more in line with the

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market, so that has helped activity. Add to this Dubai’s attractiveness from a tax perspective and things are looking good.”

There is trouble in paradise though for the British bank, which has become a victim of its Asia focus. A new UK bank levy is likely to put it at a competitive disadvantage against overseas rivals Only 2,000 of Standard Chartered's 85,000 staff are based in the UK, but the bank is still subject to the levy, which represents an additional fixed cost for larger banks operating in the UK. British finance minister George Osborne recently proposed raising the bank levy rate next year in order to offset a cut in UK corporation tax, but analysts say Standard Chartered, and rivals HSBC, would be impacted slightly more than their rivals since they make most of their profits overseas.

Shankar says the rationale for keeping its headquarters in London is weakening, but it has no plans to shift headquarters. He adds that a recent clampdown in Europe on bankers’ bonuses is also hurting the firm “The rules on compensation that apply to British and European banks also put us at an additional competitive disadvantage. What we need is a globally consistent set of principles that apply to all. In short, we need a level playing field.”

Cost control remains a major concern for banks in the Gulf as scarcity of talent, intense competition in the industry and reluctance among bankers to settle in the region force salaries rapidly higher.

Standard Chartered’s staff costs rose 17 per cent last year while headcount climbed nine per cent, according to recent company documents. The bottom line is that the bank is paying more to attract employees.

The bank is expected to hire about 1,000 staff this year, reversing this outward flow.

Shankar says: “When you talk about expenses there is always a period in which you invest and harvest. It’s very difficult for both these concepts to co-exist. In 2010, we invested at a rate higher than our income, particularly in the wholesale bank. The year before the growth rate outran the costs, so if you

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look at it as a two-year cycle then 2011 is a year that we won’t invest much but will see a return.”

Staff costs for its employees worldwide accounted for $5.76 billion last year, a 17.3 per cent increase on 2009. Of that figure, total compensation for the bank’s five highest earners accounted for $41.7 million.

The ongoing unrest in the region has applied upward pressure to salaries as foreign candidates factor in a risk premium of working amid instability.

Most analysts agree that the longer these risks exist the worse it gets for banks’ cost control efforts.

Shankar says Standard Chartered’s heavy UAE bias, where it employs 2,400 of the 3,000 MENA staff and earns most of its income, will stand it in good stead.

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Experts have warned Bahrain that it faces an unprecedented brand clean-up job if it’s to survive. Recent political violence in the Gulf state left the country’s national brand, built around the slogan ‘Business Friendly Bahrain’, in shreds.

After years of honing an image and selling it to the world, Bahrain now faces its most daunting PR campaign yet. “The tagline held true up until the government revealed their ‘unfriendly’ pragmatism of political and religious parties, which was influenced by a bigger regional agenda,” said Lana Bdeir, managing director of FutureBrand Middle East & Africa. “I say it is time for a Bahrain rebrand.” ,' & ALCP )'((

The art of nation branding hit the headlines in recent years as states looked to limit the damage to their country’s identity caused by economic mishandling during the financial crisis. Greece and Dubai’s chronic debt had a huge impact on their international image.

Meanwhile, nation-branding experts were called in to tackle the stigma attached to Austria after Josef Frizl's horrific crimes in his cellar.

In the Gulf, states have been carving out their own unique brands, but the current unrest has jeopardised these efforts. There is now a risk of contagion across all country brands in the Gulf,

confirming a latent fear in the West of instability in the Middle East, said Ares Kalandides, a place branding expert based in Germany. “Because the Middle East has been seen as volatile and unstable by some in Europe and the US, particularly because of the PalestineIsrael situation, there was a feeling that this would also be true of the Gulf countries. Countries like Bahrain built a brand that disproved this stereotype, but now there’s a sense of ‘told you so’.

And there will be people that will avoid investing in or travelling to the region.”

National brands in the Gulf have been damaged particularly in Europe, with

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tourists opting for more Mediterranean holidays this year and avoiding Arab countries, said Kalandides. But he said that educated observers in the West would be able to identify the hope for long-term change that’s emerging in the Arab Spring.

;L98@ 9FLE:<J 98:B Brand gurus say Dubai has built the most striking vision of itself on the world stage, led by powerful corporate entities like Emirates Airline and the Jumeriah Group and projects like The Palm and Burj Khalifa.

Given that country branding is still a relatively new practice for many governments, the process of building a strong country brand is often left to marketing and communication activities and primarily focused at tourism campaigns and promotions. But many say brand development is more than just putting yourself on the map. For instance, although Dubai has led the way

in tourism and business friendliness, it lacks clarity on the value system that the nation lives by.

Fundamentally though, Dubai has closely associated itself with economic prosperity, a brand attribute that always shines a positive light on a destination.

The turmoil in Bahrain has helped Dubai in this character trait, said Gaurav Sinha, the managing director of branding specialists Insignia. “It’s amplified the strength of what Dubai has to offer, from investment, progressive thinking to leisure and tourism.” Sinha added that the negative stigma attached to Bahrain is unlikely to rub off on Dubai. “For New Yorkers or Londoners reading headlines about the protests, I feel the strength of brands like Emirates will automatically correct the negative perceptions.

Received wisdom has it that these major Gulf companies could not build such a prestigious brand unless there was support from a stable government and strong economy.”

98?I8@EËJ :C<8E$LG AF9 Countries like Bahrain and Qatar have been free to shape their nation brands in recent years partly because there was limited knowledge of them around the world. They almost had a blank slate to work with, unlike Western nations, which were already established as brands over centuries.

Qatar has emphasised luxury, prestige and modernity combined with tradition through power brands like Qatar Airways and strength in commerce with RasGas, Qatar National Bank and Qatar Petroleum. But marketing specialists say while the country gained international currency with these sub-brands they do not form a cohesive whole. Indeed, internationally, people often see Qatar as merely a wealthy emirate as a result of its gas reserves.

Bahrain has also struggled to achieve a multi-dimensional brand image, mainly because it has doggedly worked at driving home its single consistent

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message as a world-class banking hub.

For this reason the recent troubles have been so devastating, as international banks and financial institutions threaten to pull out of the country. But the impact of the political protests on business may not be as cut and dried as first thought, said Kalandides. “Businesses often don’t care if it’s a dictatorship or democracy.

It’s the business friendly climate that matters, and it seems that not a lot of serious damage has been done to that.

If the question is about the security of employees at these foreign businesses then that’s a serious problem.

“A brand’s security is often about perception. For instance, Colombia improved its crime rates and in fact had a much lower level of criminality compared to Buenos Aires, but it still attracted the more negative security

associations because of the long history of risks. In general, businesses will be put off if regulations and local laws change and become business unfriendly,” he added.

Fundamentally, Bahrain has clearly lost the support of some of its citizens.

Meanwhile, purely from a brand perspective, it has dented the confidence of the outside world, said Bdeir.

“Brands are built on experiences. The damage that has been done to Bahrain as a nation brand will take years to repair. This can only be achieved if they start with changing what’s broken in the system. Communication alone will not solve their brand problem.”

Experts like Bdeir say the clean-up operation for Bahrain’s brand must start with resolving the political violence and restoring stability. Only then can work begin on

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a branding point of view, what Bahrain needs is a degree of balance between the rational and emotional benefits of the country. This means building safety and security for business with a sense of austerity, while maintaining the country’s aspirational values.

“Great logic creates great magic, so a testimonial campaign about Bahrain’s successes would be a good place to start. I firmly believe that the damage is not irreparable. Travellers travel and people forget. People still travelled after SARS and 9/11.”

There is consensus that Bahrain needs to re-draft its brand and re-evaluate its core strengths in light of recent events, so tourists and investors know what they’re buying into. This process may start by gluing back the broken pieces of its image, but to guarantee future strength there needs to be a commitment from rulers to invest in a brand building process that does not have a short-term end goal but is developed and grown organically over time.

The Arab Spring might just be the necessary catalyst for those governments who have been reluctant to open up and actively embrace change, particularly in the national brand.

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’S D L R O W E TH G N I L L E S T BES GADGET E MAGAZIN IS NOW...

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BANK

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ISLAMIC FINANCE DIVISION

Qatar’s decision to restrict Islamic banking has set a precedent that other regulators in the Gulf will follow, according to investment bankers. Qatar Central Bank (QCB) surprised markets in February after ordering conventional banks to close their Islamic windows by the end of the year.

The move, which is likely to gift market share to Qatar-based Shariah compliant lenders once the ruling comes into effect, angered international banks.

But it seems other jurisdictions in the Gulf are likely to follow QCB’s lead, said Salah Jaidah, Deutsche Bank's chief country officer in Qatar. “It will definitely set a precedent in the region, in the sense that most other regulators are now going to provide banks that declare themselves as Shariah-compliant with the full support of segregation-type regulations and how these rules are applied. Kuwait was first to do this, even before Qatar. I expect

others to follow,” said Jaidah.

Analysts regard the co-mingling of funds and, in particular, the use of conventional fixed-income deposits to fund Islamic assets as a main reason for the QCB intervention. It resulted in HSBC Holdings announcing it will close its Islamic banking unit HSBC Amanah by 31 December and migrate staff into its conventional business.

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C<JJ :?F@:< In the short-term, the rule changes are expected to reduce competition in the Qatar banking sector, with some seeing the edict as a windfall for standalone Islamic banks, which will benefit from a much larger customer base. Eventually this could force up interest rates on loans to borrowers in the private sector, as choice on Islamic lending is reduced, said Jaidah, “Real estate has found it difficult to borrow from banks outside of Qatar because of market conditions recently, so loans are naturally more locally syndicated. If borrowers have less choice then they may get tighter terms,” he said.

“In isolation, you could say interest

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necessary to segregate the Islamic assets to avoid any conflicts at conventional banks. But it’s also a matter of allowing the four Islamic banks a fair market share.

This is not unusual. Central banks tend to monitor the performance of banks and what clients expect; if you need to reassure customers over Shariah-compliant assets then that’s what will happen.”

The likelihood is that other Gulf central banks will not change policy imminently, but will instead see Qatar’s decision as a benchmark to monitor the success or failure of the policy. One Qatar-based analyst said: “Central banks will be keeping a close eye on what happens next before making any rash decisions.”

rates on these loans would be higher, but that would ignore that Qatari banks are flush with liquidity, which they are. This will offset price rises. But the reduced competition in the Islamic debt financing market could be sowing the seeds for higher costs for borrowers down the road.”

There were also fears that international banks would be barred from activities in project finance, where business had been expected to balloon as Qatar prepared to host the 2022 Fifa World Cup. Rumours were rife that the likes of HSBC would be unable to conduct financing using sukuk, hijra or other Islamic instruments, although they would still have access to conventional finance.

But at this point it seems a conventional bank will still be able to

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operate on a single transaction or on an advisory basis, but just not through its fully-fledged Islamic operation. A spokesman for HSBC was not available to comment on the rules.

But Shahzad Shahbaz, chief executive of investment bank QInvest, said there will be enough project finance spoils from the World Cup building frenzy to keep all banks busy.

“Financing for Qatar’s vast infrastructure projects, which include the World Cup, will get done the conventional and Islamic method, whether its public equity, private equity, sukuk or bi-lateral funding. We will see

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increased activity across the board, so there will be plenty to go around.”

He said because the Qatar government wants to avoid empty promises, there is also a greater guarantee that projects will be completed on time. “Not everything that’s going to happen in Qatar is because of the World Cup. The biggest area in the next 10 years is the infrastructure sector, which includes anything from airports, ports, rail and roads to hospitals, electricity and water.

All this has been planned irrespective of whether 2022 was taking place or not.

What the World Cup brings is greater logic and sense of urgency to get these things done,” said Shahbaz.

:FEJLD<I C<E;@E> C@D@KJ Meanwhile, Qatar unveiled new regulations on consumer borrowing to clamp down on both how much local banks can lend customers and how much interest they can charge.

Qatari citizens can now borrow no more than two million riyals ($549,254) on loans with a maximum maturity of six years and 400,000 riyals on loans of no more than four years.

QCB also put a 400,000 Qatari riyals ($109,850) ceiling on a personal loan to an expatriate.

Bankers said the restrictions might reduce profits for banks and hamper the expansion of the retail banking sector.

Net income estimates for Commercial

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Bank of Qatar, the nation’s second-largest bank, were cut 22 per cent, or 478 million riyals ($131 million) on the rule changes by analysts at Credit Suisse.

For Doha Bank, the fourth-biggest lender, profits were shaved by 10 per cent, according to a report to clients. Because the changes “have negative implications on growth, we think the time has come to turn less positive on the sector,” Mohamad Hawa, an analyst at Credit Suisse, said in a research report. He said that banks’ profit margins would also be squeezed after the capping of personal loan rates at 6.5 per cent, compared to current rates of up to nine per cent.

Analysts at Dubai-based investment bank Rasmala have since scaled down forecasts of consumer loan growth in Qatar this year to about five per cent from eight per cent to 10 per cent earlier after the new lending rules.

But Qatar isn’t the only country in the region to have framed new rules on consumer lending. The UAE announced regulations earlier this year that came

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The UAE capped personal loans at 20 times a borrower’s monthly salary and its repayment period to 48 months, while overall instalments for all loans, including personal, car, housing and credit cards, must not exceed 50 per cent of a borrowers’ gross salary and any regular income.

Worryingly though for Qatar, local banks, including Al Khaliji Commercial Bank, have said the new limitations undermine any expansion in the retail sector while there exists a small local bankable population.

Qatar has definitely created a buzz around its recent regulatory changes, but too often this has been for all the wrong reasons. Whether other central banks will follow suit with some or all of its new rules is yet to be seen, but they will no doubt be looking to learn lessons from any of Qatar’s missteps. >LC= 9LJ@E<JJ & ,.

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Cathay Pacific, the world’s third most profitable airline, has become the first international carrier to set up direct flights between Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE, and Hong Kong.

Company officials were in Abu Dhabi to introduce themselves to UAE Trade Minister Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi and a gamut of local officials, as the inaugural flight from Abu Dhabi to Hong Kong lurched into the skies early last month.

“We are the first carrier to offer a direct service from Abu Dhabi to Hong Kong,” said Tom Wright, general manager Middle East, India, Africa and Pakistan, Cathay Pacific. “With the increasing economic and tourism links between Abu Dhabi – one of the fastest growing cities in the Middle East – and Hong Kong, which has long been a vibrant destination and popular hub in Asia, we expect this service to be well received amongst both business and leisure travellers throughout the Emirate.”

Company officials believe that China’s vast potential to send its citizens out into

the world on business and tourism, combined with increasing inquisitiveness on the part of Middle East business and leisure travellers, will cement the route’s status.

“Abu Dhabi in itself is a good business market. We believe there is a good mixture of business traffic, corporate travel, and leisure travel,” says Ivan Chu, Cathay Pacific’s chief operating officer, who led the airline’s delegation to the UAE capital.

As of May, Cathay’s route map consisted of 142 destinations in 39 countries. Prior to the Abu Dhabi-Hong Kong launch in June, Cathay served the Middle Eastern cities of Dubai, Manama, Jeddah and Riyadh.

“We are the only airline operating between Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong non-stop,” says Chu, adding that, although very large investments, the company might also consider Cairo and Beirut as future destinations if the timing was right.

Cathay reported a bumper year in 2010, with revenues up 34 per cent, net profits up 199 per cent and an eleven-fold increase in dividends. The airline connects to 17 cities in mainland China through its sister airline, Dragonair, while cargo contributed around 30 per cent of income. It is also hoped the new service will turn Hong Kong and the Pearl Delta region into a destination for Middle East tourists.

Cathay Pacific was founded in Hong Kong in 1946 by Australian Sydney de Kantzow and American Roy Farrell, war veterans who had flown the ‘Hump’ route over the Himalayas. >LC= 9LJ@E<JJ & ,0

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Each put up HK$1 to register the airline’s single craft, and moved its base from Shanghai to Hong Kong, naming it Cathay, China’s ancient name, and Pacific, because they thought they would eventually fly across the ocean (this would happen a generation later). In 1948, Swire Group bought 45 per cent of the airline, leaving Australian National Airways 35 per cent and the two founders 10 per cent each.

Today, Cathay Pacific’s major shareholders are Swire Pacific Limited,

with 44 per cent, CITIC Pacific Limited, two per cent and Air China Limited with 30 per cent. Cathay in turn owns 19 per cent of Air China. In May, Cathay Pacific launched Air China Cargo in a joint venture with Air China. “We believe this will be the most successful freighter airline in China,” says Chu. As of mid-May, Cathay Pacific operated a fleet of 125 passenger aircraft, including 37 Boeing 777 variants, 45 Boeing 747s, and 43 Airbus 330s and 340s, with an average passenger aircraft age of 11.1

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years. It had firm orders for a further 88 aircraft, including 20 Airbus A330-300s, 32 Airbus A350-900s, 26 Boeing 777-300ERs and 10 Boeing 747-8Fs. The company expects to take delivery of over 90 aircraft by the end of the decade.

Chu says the Airbus A350s, despite a

CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS STATS

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CX OPERATING FLEET OF AIRCRAFT: 125 ‡BOEING 777-300: 12 ‡BOEING 777-300ER: 20 ‡BOEING 777-200: 5 ‡BOEING 747-400: 21 ‡BOEING 747-400 BCF : 12 -' & ALCP )'((

‡BOEING 747-400F : 6 ‡BOEING 747-400ERF : 6 ‡AIRBUS A340-300 : 11 ‡AIRBUS A330-300 : 32

CX INVENTORY OF AIRCRAFT: 128 AVERAGE AGE OF PASSENGER AIRCRAFT: 11.1 YEARS FIRM ORDERS: 88 ‡AIRBUS A330-300: 20 ‡AIRBUS A350-900: 32

‡BOEING 777-300ER: 26 ‡BOEING 747-8F : 10

DESTINATIONS SERVED: 142 IN 39 COUNTRIES

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troubled roll-out, and Boeing 777s will be the backbone of the company’s longhaul operations. “We have ordered a lot. As far as we are concerned, we are not the earliest buyers of the A350 so we hope that our deliveries will not be delayed. We do have a substantial order of Boeing 777s, which we believe will be helpful. We expect delivery of the first A350 sometime in 2015. The Boeing 777 and Airbus A350 will provide the right frequency and mix.”

Qatar Airways will be the launch customer of the A350, having ordered 80 of the variants.

Chu refused to comment on how large a share of operating expenses is allocated to fuel, but expects it to be bigger than last year, when it contributed 35.6 per cent to group operating costs.

He would not be drawn on the threat posed to international airlines by the Gulf trio of Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad. “If we look at the development of the Gulf carriers, we have seen tremendous improvement and expansion of these airlines. No doubt they have become a force in the industry but Cathay Pacific intends to focus on ourselves.

“All competition keeps us on our

toes and we are used to competition.

In my mind, it keeps us strong. Today, competition is stronger than in the past.

We focus on the things we can control, like investment, customer service, hubbing China. That’s the best formula for us. Our focus will be on developing Hong Kong as major hub for passengers

and cargo. There are a lot of things we cannot control. Competition [is one of them]. If we continue to manage ourselves, we will continue to win.”

Hong Kong is the most successful city in China as an investment hub and for building infrastructure, says Chu. Shanghai and Beijing are growing, he adds. Last month, the Hong Kong Airport Authority issued a consultation paper on the future of Hong Kong Airport, dealing with future expansion and construction of a third runway. “Cathay Pacific is very clear we want this runway to be built.

Based on our estimates, the airport will be full by 2020. It is the right spot to operate from.”

Hong Kong is a busy hub, with estimates of 50 million passengers a year, outnumbering the seven million population of the special administrative region. Chu says over 60 per cent are transit passengers, considerably in excess of the transit percentage in Dubai. Hong Kong was the world’s third busiest international airport, according to Airport Council International’s 2010 data up to August, while Dubai ranked fifth. Hong Kong was also the world’s busiest by annual cargo weight.

Chu is optimistic on the outlook for the Chinese economy, expecting a resumption of growth. “China is one of the major powers in the Pacific region. We see continued growth of the economy. There may be bubble issues but we are bullish about the upward trajectory. Some 70 per cent of our income is outside Hong Kong.

China is a big part of that.”

The move by a major international player is a feather in Abu Dhabi’s cap. It is something to ponder that a representative of a leading international airline founded 65 years ago was in the UAE capital to pay court to UAE officialdom, in this case, the august figure of Sheikha Lubna, rather than the other way round. It says something about the way that the UAE has asserted itself on the global map and is likely a sign that deals of this type will continue to emerge in future to the country’s credit. >LC= 9LJ@E<JJ & -(

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When Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Ras Al Khaimah’s ruler, declared on May 16 that RAK was a regional hub in the movement of maritime trade, he may well have raised a few eyebrows. Jostling for position with a mega-port installation in Jebel Ali, another coming up in Abu Dhabi at Taweelah under Abu Dhabi Ports Company, and a smaller but very effective container facility at Khorfakkan run by Gulftainer, RAK faces stiff competition.

In making his declaration, Sheikh Saud was announcing the launch of RAK Maritime City, the UAE’s newest maritime free zone and the emirate’s fifth port facility. Occupying an area of eight square kilometres, it will serve as a maritime industrial park for medium and heavy industry. Over AED 520 million has been invested in RAK Maritime City, to make the large existing natural Fm\i 8<; ,)' channel perfect for industry. d`cc`fe _Xj Y\\e China Harbour Construction Company `em\jk\[ `e I8B was commissioned in 2008 to develop DXi`k`d\ :`kp% >LC= 9LJ@E<JJ & -*

the new waterway and constructing five kilometres of quay wall, which will offer exclusive-use jetties. Harbour-mouth depth is nine metres, while vessels will have a draught of seven metres alongside. In short, the facility is perfect for the workboat industry.

Three international anchor tenants are already operating at RAK MC: Malaysian barge and tug operator Shin Yang, Greek construction company Archirodon and

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German gypsum board manufacturer Knauf. The site will be zoned into specified areas for retail, warehousing, general cargo handling, industrial production and manufacturing, tank storage and shipbuilding and repair.

RAK plays host to four other maritime installations, namely Port Saqr, the largest bulk commodity port in the Middle East; Al Jazeera, a dry dock and ship repair yard for small and medium-sized vessels; Al Jeer Marina, a sailing club with adjacent livestock handling and general warehousing; and RAK Khor, which provides warehousing, afloat ship repair, general trading and cruise tourism. “[RAK Maritime City will] elevate Ras Al Khaimah to the position of a dominant global shipping centre of excellence operating within world-class standards. It also sets out the blueprint for the sustainability of the maritime industry in Ras Al Khaimah and indeed the region, which after all is an inherent part of the Emirate’s heritage and legacy.

We will offer our customers and tenants much more than just export and import facilities. Our objective is to be able to attract all industries connected with 9`i[Ëj \p\ m`\n f] I8B DXi`k`d\ :`kp%

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the maritime world and to offer them a long-term partnership in a dynamic and growing business environment,” said Captain Colin Crookshank, general manager of RAK Maritime City.

In 2010, the government of Ras Al Khaimah consolidated RAK’s five ports under one structure managed by Saqr Port Authority, as a way to eliminate intra-emirate competition and maximise cooperation between different entities.

This will augment the emirate’s ability to compete UAE-wide with larger rivals.

RAK Maritime City Free Zone has the ability to incorporate companies as both FZE and FZC entities and will issue industrial, commercial and general trading licences along with work permits and UAE residence visas. An office park at the entrance to the free zone will also accommodate customs, immigration and the RAK Maritime City management team.

In addition to the three anchor tenants, a source at RAK Maritime City says that six projects are nearing close. Three medium-sized tenants, including a leisure craft and house-boat builder, and a Malaysian company wanting to build a tank-farm blending facility for palm

ÈI8B _Xj j\im\[ Xj X Z\eki\ ]fi hlXiip`e^ Xe[ Z\d\ek dXel]XZkli\ j`eZ\ k_\ (0.'j# Ylk dXi`k`d\ XZk`m`kp `j Yfle[ kf jkXe[ `kj \Zfefdp `e ^ff[ jk\X[%É seed oil, are expected to sign by the end of July. “We could have two-three major EPC [engineering, procurement and construction] contracts to announce in the next three months. We’ve got a lot of enquiries. When people are investing considerable amounts of capital, it’s not impulse buying. We are very pleased with the launch and it has certainly put the maritime park on the map.”

RAK has served as a centre for quarrying and cement manufacture since the 1970s, but maritime activity is bound to stand its economy in good stead. With a size of only 1,683 square kilometres, or less than half the size of Dubai emirate, RAK, the UAE’s fourthlargest emirate, has the advantage of

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HOSPITALITY

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FD<I B8;;FLI@# :FF# IFK8E8 ?FK<CJ We will have 30 more hotels in MENA by 2014 – across the Gulf, Egypt, Morocco and Iraq. We don’t plan to hold back on any of these. We have one project that’s due to come out of the ground in Libya but, just like every other project in Libya, things are on hold.

We announced an $800 million hotel investment over five years. It’s exciting and we will have 46 hotels by September.

Since the recession, more people are attracted to medium and budget hotels.

And the UAE can offer that. Centro, our mid-tier hotel, is doing very well– it’s our fastest growing brand and I think that mid-tier is the fastest growing type of Fd\i BX[[fli`# :FF# IfkXeX _fk\cj

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hotel in the region today. The dynamic of the market is changing – people want to spend less but they are still demanding a certain quality.

People don’t have money to spend like they used to. The budget airlines are doing well at bringing in people who are conscious of spending money.

The appetite for luxury never waned, however, there were more people that could afford luxury as the prices of the room rates came down.

Q1 2011 in the UAE is going well. We budgeted at around 70 per cent and we’re doing 80 per cent occupancy. There are good signs. In the past two years we didn’t know where we were going.

The regional turmoil helped Dubai and the UAE as the Saudis didn’t fly to Lebanon or Egypt or Syria. In the UAE there is so much happening in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Exhibitions are increasing, there’s a lot of internal focus on putting the UAE in the best position.

I’m optimistic about the future but I’m cautiously optimistic about how far it will get back to the norm, or even better that the norm. Do we want it to be extravagantly expensive like it was before the crisis – the highest in the world in terms of occupancy and rates?

I don’t want to see that again. It’s not a sustainable model. I am looking forward to a normalisation of our industry in Dubai.

We’re seeing some destinations open up to the UAE – India and China, and the Iranian market is becoming stronger than ever. Europe is still a major demographic for us. But I think China has the potential to be the first major destination to visit the UAE in the next five years. We are opening an outside sales office in Shanghai – a lot of hotels are trying to attract the Chinese.

The budget market will become stronger and stronger; we’ve offered a style that’s slightly above our competitors, our customers pay a little more. I see three stars becoming the highest growing hotel in most cities in MENA over the next five years.

Customers want the right value and the

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right service offering at the right price.

We are now on the hunt for global hotels. The Rotana model has got us where we are today and we think it can work anywhere.

<JJ8D 89FL;8# M@:< GI<J@;<EK# 8I89@8E G<E@EJLC8 8E; @E;@8E F:<8E# ?@CKFE NFIC;N@;< The whole of Egypt was negatively affected. The resorts went from 80 per cent occupancy to 25 per cent. Cairo went down even further. However, the resorts reached 60 per cent plus by

May. Cairo is still suffering from lack of business, but we think pick up will come steadily for the resorts.

The economic situation is picking up in the UAE. We’ve had an extremely strong beginning this year. You can link it to the fact that the UAE is a safe environment, as well as the fact infrastructure is booming, so it’s hard to pinpoint the upsurge. In Dubai, occupancy is well over the 80s, and in the UAE it’s around the 70s. It’s a slight improvement on last year.

Our plan is to grow by 80 per cent in the MENA region over the next three years and at least double our hotels to more than 100 in the coming five years.

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hotel chains and massive room for growth, especially in Saudi Arabia.

We’ve also seen more of a demand for budget hotels such as Hilton DoubleTree. I don’t believe we have enough budget hotels in this region.

You need to cover all levels of travelers, budget and high-scale.

The UAE is definitely out of the recession and is going back at a good pace to the best year of 2007.

For the countries that experienced unrest, the pace will be slower. In the long term, the conflict could be a booster for Egypt after the elections, where it could regain its success as a tourism destination. The economy will be restored and there will be more opportunity to invest in tourism.

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9F9 B?8I8QD@# >CF98C F==@:<I# NFIC;N@;< FG<I8K@FEJ# I@KQ$ :8ICKFE We have six projects in MENA and I believe we will double that by 2013.

This is a very vibrant region. We see a lot of growth in the market, RitzCarlton wants to make sure that we are here. I don’t think the ME unrest will affect our investments long-term.

We saw double digit growth in 2010 and we see strong business pick up this year. The average rate is getting stronger as people are willing to pay more for great service.

I think the global economy overall shows growth. Our business is not different from what happens in

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the global economy – it’s attached to consumers and whether they want to spend our disposable income. We want to make sure we stay focused because business has come back stronger than many expected.

One thing that is not going to stop for sure is growth. International hotels will try to grow different hotels in their portfolio in this market. You will also see airlines grow – they have made the reach to the location very easy. You will see Ritz-Carlton trying to get into most destinations where people travel to. The growth is driven by where your

customers are and we are a customerorientated company.

The liquidity market was tied up with the global slowdown but right now you can see that the banks are willing to finance the hospitality industries.

In this part of the world, there is considerable wealth. Our customers will come from wherever the airlines bring them in. With the reach that Emirates airline has to Asia and the US, customers come from everywhere.

The airlines have done an incredible job and fuelled the hospitality business – Ritz Carlton is a beneficiary of that

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as well as international brands.

Our differentiator is service and also consistency in that service. We create an environment which means they cannot forget – we reach their hearts and souls.

Even if the economy is tough they will choose a hotel that they love.

DATA MONITOR TOP DEALS AND GCC ECONOMIC INDICATORS

TOP DEALS GULF BUSINESS DEAL VALUE ($M)

BIDDER

TARGET

DEAL DESCRIPTION

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GEORGES ELHEDERY, Head of global markets, MENA, HSBC @jjl\[ Yp ?J9: 9Xeb D`[[c\ <Xjk C`d`k\[% I\^lcXk\[ YpA\ij\p =`eXeZ`Xc J\im`Z\j :fdd`jj`fe% 8cc ]`^li\j hlfk\[ Xi\ jfliZ\[ ]ifd 9cffdY\i^ Xe[ ?J9: Xe[ Xi\ Zfii\Zk Xk k_\ k`d\ f] glYc`ZXk`fe% GXjk g\i]fidXeZ\ `j Xe efk Xe XZZliXk\ ^l`[\ kf k_\ ]lkli\% K_`j `e]fidXk`fe `j ^\e\iXc Xe[ [f\j efk kXb\ `ekf XZZflek pfli Z`iZldjkXeZ\j# fYa\Zk`m\j fi e\\[j% Pfl j_flc[ Zfej`[\i k_\j\ dXkk\ij Xe[ Zfejlck pfli ]`eXeZ`Xc X[m`jfi gi`fi kf dXb`e^ Xep `em\jkd\ek [\Z`j`fej% =fi gif]\jj`feXc Xjj`jkXeZ\# ZfekXZk ?J9: fe /'' +' +++*%

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HE HOTEL PHOENICIA in Valetta is a charming product of a bygone age. Room keys still bear Le Meridien insignia long after this association ended. A honking flotilla of ancient yellow buses gathers in Valetta Square outside – the one deficiency of our trip is that we are not prompted to sample its delights and disappear off to get lost.

The hotel’s delightful rooms smack of yesteryear, but are comfortable and have fine views of Valetta’s old city walls. The kitchen serves a sumptuous breakfast and the terrace looks out over the superb backdrop of Sliema and Gzira, the island in Valetta’s north bay.

The bar is crammed with pictures of naval vessels of yore, the backbone of British control of the Mediterranean and, in one corner, photos of a mysterious yet glamorous World War II blonde. Questions as to her identity cannot be answered.

First up is magnificent Mdina, perched on the island’s largest hilltop with superb views of a verdant hinterland. Malta has two cathedrals and Mdina offers one of them – the magnificent St. Paul’s Cathedral – its commanding position overlooks the entire north and east of the island.

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Built following the 1693 earthquake, it is a curtain-raiser for the magnificent Baroque architecture to be found all over the island. Its designer, Lorenzo Gafa, conceived its octagonal dome and lantern, perhaps in deference to its more illustrious namesake in London.

The site is venerated as the place where Malta’s first bishop, St. Publius, received St. Paul after his shipwreck off the island, recounted in the Acts of the Apostles.

Although the roads on the island are sometimes atrocious – at least for those used to Dubai’s slick freeways – they are definitely worth exploring. Visit the town of Naxxar, site of the Mosta Dome, clearly visible from Rabat, where lunch of the highest quality is available at the Palazzo Parisio restaurant, along with a stroll in its ornamental gardens.

Visitors from Dubai should take time out to take a look at Smart City Malta, the fruit of a €275 million investment by the government of Dubai designed to emulate Dubai Media and Internet Cities and convert the Ricasoli Industrial Estate into an information technology hub. The park is up and running but space is still available.

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At the airport, Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company has extended its investment in Zurich Airportbased aircraft maintenance company SR Technics, with the creation of a new MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facility, which won an 11-year maintenance contract to oversee EasyJet’s Airbus A-319 fleet.

Beyond the airport lies Marsa Open Centre, a camp that is home to hundreds of African refugees – many of them from Eritrea or Sudan – fleeing the violence in Libya. One professed himself sick and tired of being stuck in Malta on a government handout of €80 a week, but added that the onward journey to Europe was barred.

Malta’s 359 churches are said to provide

ÈD8CK8ËJ *,0 :?LI:?<J 8I< J8@; KF GIFM@;< K?< FGGFIKLE@KP =FI I<J@;<EKJ KF 8KK<E; D8JJ <M<IP ;8P F= K?< P<8I% D8EP F= K?<D 8I< CF:8K<; @E M8C<KK8# K?< :8G@K8C# N?@:?# C@B< 8 D@E@$D8E?8KK8E# @J :I@JJ$ :IFJJ<; N@K? >FM<IED<EK D@E@JKI@<J# 9LJ@E<JJ<J# J?FGJ 8E; I<JK8LI8EKJ KF J8DGC< 8K PFLI C<@JLI<%É the opportunity for residents to attend mass every day of the year. Many of them are located in Valetta, the capital, which, like a mini-Manhattan, is crisscrossed with government ministries, businesses, shops and restaurants to sample at your leisure.

The highlight is the St. John’s Co-Cathedral, commissioned in 1572 by the Knights of Malta, who were to be expelled from the island by the French in 1798. It contains the signature painting The Beheading of St. John the Baptist, the only painting signed by Italian master, Caravaggio.

Emirates Airline flies daily to Malta via Cyprus. For those who like Europe with a meso-Mediterranean twist, Malta is definitely a destination to consider.

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IG ENGINES. THAT’S what W.O Bentley had in mind when he started his firm back in 1919. The four-door Continental Flying Spur Speed sat in front of me taking up a lot of kerbside, while continuing the family tradition of big power blocks, is a world away from its post-war predecessors and the technology employed would be unthinkable to Mr Bentley in his heyday.

The Flying Spur model is the most successful 12-cylinder luxury saloon in the world, and the Speed edition I tested has a new 6-litre, twin-turbo W12 powerplant. Its 600 brake horsepower makes it the most powerful produced by Bentley ever. Maxing out at 322 km/h, and capable of sprinting from rest to 100km/h in an astonishing 4.5 seconds, the Speed engine develops 15 per cent more torque and nine per cent more power than the ‘standard’ edition.

Its front grille and air intakes are different from the Spur and are finished in dark chrome, and the wider rifled sports exhaust offer a couple of hints that the Speed version is more a cheetah in sheep’s clothing than wolf. Other than these, there is little obvious indication that this machine could blow sportier Italian offerings into the weeds. All while opera plays tastefully on its 1,100-Watt, Naim sound system, of course. And boy, can this thing move. The torque is formidable and starts at the

low end of the rev range. A slight down pressure on the accelerator is all it takes for it to leap and strain at the leash. Acoustic glazing, tri-laminate underlays and wheel arch liners give superb soundproofing and means that the W12 doesn’t howl in your ears, but rather gives a low, restrained growl. Felt more than heard.

There is so much detail, it’s impossible to take in just how much effort and thought went into the Flying Spur Speed at first glance. Little touches make themselves apparent the more you drive it, an experience that more cars of this bracket should offer. Behind the wheel, it’s an intuitive space. No need to take your eyes off the road for a moment, all controls fall to hand exactly where they should be, leading to instant and instilled confidence – a good thing in such a large car. Everything happens quickly at speed, and acting instinctively makes a difference.

Acceleration, as expected, is phenomenal. There is no discernable lag from the turbo-chargers. The most surprising aspect is how smoothly the 600 horsepower and tractive force is supplied.

No jerkiness, no juddering, the speedo

needle winds on and on calmly with no drama or theatrics. Before you know it you’re stamping on the other pedal to restore some legality to the proceedings.

A weekend press drive, while welcome and better than nothing, is over before you know it. I wish there were more time to get to know her, as my feeling of sadness at handing her back was overwhelming.

It was all too brief an encounter for this love-struck chap.

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HIS SECLUDED LUXURY resort is only a short 65 kilometre drive out of Dubai, but Al Maha seems a country away; a world away.

The only person you’ll see throughout your stay is your partner and the charming, discreet butler bearing gifts of silver-service breakfast, lunch and dinner to be consumed on the terrace by your temperature-controlled private pool.

Your very own oasis is perched amid 225 sqkm of pristine desert landscape, amid the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve. The area is home to 300 Oryx, the largest, freeroaming herd of its kind in the UAE. More often than not, you’ll spot an Oryx padding through the villa grounds.

This mythical-looking animal will pause, look at you insouciantly, and walk on – or, depending on his thirst levels, take a slurp of water from your pool. Al Maha

provides a wildlife book and a pair of binoculars to spot the spectacular array of animals, including 116 species of bird – the guidebook is just one of the resort’s many individual, surprise touches.

Inside the Bedouin-style tent villa you’ll find high-spec nods to the traditional nomadic lifestyle and Arabian heritage.

Aside from the huge regal bed and well-appointed bathroom, Al Maha’s rooms are an important repository for over 2,000 historic and rare pieces of artwork, weaponry, traditional jewellery, and Bedouin handicrafts. Another special touch is the artist’s easel and wax crayons, an attempt to coax out the artist in you, long buried by the constant beep of your Blackberry.

But the highlight of Al Maha has to be floating in the pool at night, counting the stars you didn’t know Dubai had, set to a soundtrack of nothing but a breeze. www.al-maha.com

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HE 14TH EDITION of Dubai’s biggest summer entertainment and shopping fiesta is in full swing. Organised by The Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment, the government entity offers regional shopping malls an opportunity to showcase bargains, activities, contests and raffle draws as part of the festival promotions.

The bright yellow, deliriously cheerful festival mascot, Modhesh, now beckons visitors to his very own theme park, Modhesh World – attracting over 500,000 visitors annually. Join him at the Dubai International Airport Expo Centre. Spread across 37,000 square metres, attractions include horse and camel rides, a mini zoo, games, stage shows and an interactive sports zone.

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LEATHER WAIST-COATED biker named Kamel offers me a cigarette and shows me his “baby” – a heavily customised Harley Davidson, replete with studs, special pockets and gleaming chrome. “I love her,” he says, Marlboro dangling out of his mouth, “my wife said ‘it’s me or the bike’. I said: I’ll take the bike.”

Kamel, who owns five of the iconic American bikes, is just one member of the Harley Davidson Dubai Owners group. Each week, a disparate collection of bikers – from CEOs to admin workers to Sheikhs to technicians – cast off their day-clothes and go in search of the kind of escape you can only find on the open road with the wind in your hair.

Today 200 bikers from around 30-plus nationalities have gathered together in homage to freedom and the Harley Davidson American dream. But this counterculture club is more bourgeois than bat-out-of-hell. The burly, bearded man with the studded leather jacket and much-tattooed arms says ‘sorry’ as he brushes past me and – while the traditional Hell’s Angels’ rite of passage includes drinking one’s own bodily passings – the urbane Dubai riders even stop to wash their hands after visiting the gents.

The low, sombre growl of motorbikes is intoxicating. As I hop onto the back of his bike for a group journey to Hatta, my rider only offers me one piece of advice: “hold on tight, babe.”

There’s something special, palpable and alive in this group as they rev off one-by-one into double file. This scene offers a

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real-life glimpse into how Harley-Davidson’s longevity has been sustained by its loyal brand community.

Licensing of the Harley-Davidson logo accounts for almost five per cent of the company’s net revenue, which was $3.14 billion last year, with improved profits of $259.7 million after a major restructuring plan following waning sales in the US. Part of the company’s renaissance plan includes tackling the emerging markets, with plans to add up to 150 dealers across the globe.

Paul de Jong, Harley Davidson country manager for the Middle East and North Africa, set up the dedicated corporate team in Dubai in October, moving over from the main EMEA office in Cape Town, where he worked for three and half years.

“I’ve been riding since I was eight years old, so, for me, the dream started very early. That’s what we do, we help people realise their dreams. It’s the sort of brand that attracts people who dream. It’s the best job in the world,” he says.

De Jong explains that Harley Davidson promotes a brotherhood feel and each dealership promotes and sponsors a Harley Davison Owner’s Group, which provides owners with regular group rides and events.

“You wonder why they tattoo themselves with Harley Davison logos? It’s the camaraderie and the belonging between people.

It’s very strong in the whole region. As soon as you buy a Harley you buy into a big group of friends, no matter where you go,” he says.