Swiss Re estimates burden from Hurricane Sandy at $900 million

The insurer's estimate is subject to a higher than usual degree of uncertainty and may need to be subsequently adjusted.

Hurricane Sandy, which made landfall in the US on 29 October 2012, caused high winds and storm surge, resulting in extensive flooding and loss of life and property. Before it hit the US, Hurricane Sandy affected the Caribbean and The Bahamas.

"Swiss Re extends its sympathies to the families, communities and businesses affected by Hurricane Sandy, and especially to those who have lost loved ones and livelihoods in the storm," says Michel Liès, Group Chief Executive Officer. "Swiss Re will support our clients and partners in tackling this challenging situation, as we have done in so many instances in the past."

Swiss Re estimates its claims burden to be around $900 million, net of retrocession and before tax. This estimate is subject to change as the claims assessment process continues. Overall market losses are estimated at a range of $20 - 25 billion.

"The hurricane hit the densely populated North-East coast of the US," says Matthias Weber, Group Chief Underwriting Officer. "This led to prolonged power outages, disruption to public transport and damage to other infrastructure that have made recovery efforts very difficult. It also complicates the loss assessment process. Our claims estimate therefore is subject to a higher than usual degree of uncertainty and may need to be subsequently adjusted."

Sheikh Mohammed receives Prince Khalid Al Faisal

The Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, on Sunday received at Zabeel Palace the Governor of Makkah Province in Saudi Arabia Prince Khalid Al Faisal.

Sheikh Mohammed and Prince Khalid exchanged views on a number of mutual issues. They also discussed initiatives on the Arabic language, especially in schools and higher education institutions.

Prince Khalid praised the initiative on Arabic launched by Sheikh Mohammed last year to support the language in schools and universities so as to protect and implant it in the minds of young generation.

He hailed the progress being experienced by the UAE led by its wise leadership, citing the world class infrastructure of Dubai city.

Present were Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Aviation Authority and Chairman of Emirates Group, Sheikh Majid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al Owais, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development and Khalifa Saeed Suleiman, Director General of the Department of Protocol and Hospitality in Dubai.

We live in a tough neighborhood & must continue to be a beacon of change in the region for the good of our children

#Gergawi : "We live in a tough neighborhood & must continue to be a beacon of change in the region for the good of our children". #GES2012

Africa: White House Hosts International Entrepreneurs

Washington — In advance of the upcoming Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Dubai December 11-13, the White House convened a who's who of self-made businesspeople for a Celebration of Global Entrepreneurship.

Former secretary of state Madeleine Albright is chair of the Partnership for a New Beginning (PNB), launched in response to President Obama's 2009 speech in Cairo in which he promised to "deepen ties between business leaders, foundations and social entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim communities around the world." PNB focuses on generating economic opportunity through people-to-people exchanges between the United States and majority Muslim societies.

Albright described Microsoft and the Intel Corporation's initiative in Tunisia to mentor students in leadership and commercial skills, as well as a delegation of American investors in the West Bank who have provided training and business opportunities to young entrepreneurs.

"In a world where technology is increasingly dominant," Albright said, "the gap is growing rapidly between those who have access to modern education and training and those who do not. It has been said that history is a race between education and catastrophe and that is, obviously, a race we must win."

Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides spoke of entrepreneurship as the heart of the administration's economic statecraft. "We can't have stable societies without economic opportunity," Nides said, "and nothing creates opportunity like entrepreneurship." Nides spoke of entrepreneurs' need for "open, free and fair regulatory systems and policy environments that favor risk-taking. They need a business climate that makes it easy to start a business and get financing; where legal certainty increases investor confidence; and where failure is just part of the experience, not the end of a career."

Mohammed Al Gergawi, minister of Cabinet affairs for the United Arab Emirates, who will host the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, highlighted measures the UAE has taken that have made it a role model for entrepreneurship in the Arab world. He stressed the importance of gender equality in creating an atmosphere in which new ideas can thrive.

The centerpiece of the day's events was a series of open discussions among entrepreneurs both experienced and just starting out.

Three 2011 winners of the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) Tech-I competition described their entrepreneurial ventures and the lessons they have learned.

Ziad Sankari from Lebanon founded CardioDiagnostics, a biomedical startup, after his father died from a heart attack. Hind Hobeika, also from Lebanon, is using her background in athletics and engineering to create tools to track and improve athletes' performance. Greenovation Technologies was started by Hasanul Qader Mirza with an eye toward helping the poor of Bangladesh with an affordable and sustainable housing material called Jutin.

The three young entrepreneurs shared their experiences in raising capital, the importance of mentors and how they look to the entrepreneurial climate in the United States as a model. "We need to build more bridges" with innovators in the United States, Hobeika said. In Bangladesh, Mirza said, "we have the ideas, but we don't know how to implement them."

These challenges set the stage for the session with the more seasoned entrepreneurs, or, as Jeff Hoffman suggested it should be called, "Ask an Old Guy." Hoffman, who founded Priceline.com and several other successful companies, was joined by Usama Fayyad, who leads the OASIS-500 investment fund in Jordan that is committed to funding 500 Internet and technology startups, and Bill Reese, the president and chief executive of the International Youth Foundation.

Entrepreneurs are not born, Fayyad said. "Entrepreneurship is a bunch of habits you develop." The entrepreneurial spirit, he said, "is a virus -- a good virus."

Mohammad stresses value of human capital

Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, attended the Distinguished Leadership seminar organised by the Shaikh Khalifa Government Excellence Programme at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs.

Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince, and Shaikh Maktoum Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, also attended the event.

The seminar was presented by David Ulrich, an expert in the field of human resource management and leadership preparation programme. The event discussed findings of recent studies on leadership.
Shaikh Mohammad affirmed the important role of the UAE leadership in setting up a working plan for excellence and achieving best governmental practices to provide the best quality of services to the public line with UAE Vision 2021.

“The efficient leader is one who makes leaders and trains others on how to gain leadership skills and utilise them effectively,” Shaikh Mohammad said.

He urged those at an executive leadership level to strive for more knowledge and acquaint themselves with the latest developments pertaining to effective leadership, besides exchanging creative ideas with their teams in order to enhance their expertise and help them develop new methodologies.
“We deeply believe that there is no such thing as ‘impossible’ and each issue has a key to its solution,” Shaikh Mohammad said.

Shaikh Mohammad underlined the importance of investment in human capital saying it remained the true wealth of the nation. “I feel extremely happy when I see Emiratis in leading positions who are armed with education and experience, and utilise them in better serving their nation. We will spare no effort to support our ambitious citizens through human development and preparing a generation of leadership capable of leading government institutions and pushing them towards new horizons of success,” he added.

Dr Anwar Mohammad Al Gergawi, minister of cabinet affairs, senior officials, and 400 employees from various governmental bodies, were present at the seminar.

Mohammed issues decree to reshuffle DMI Board of Directors

Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in his capacity as Ruler of Dubai, has issued a decree to reshuffle the Board of Directors of Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI) under the chairmanship of Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority.
According to the decree, Sami Al Qamzi has been appointed Deputy Chairman.
The decree names the following as members; Awadh Hadir Al Muhairi, Muna Ghanem Al Marri, Jamal Howaireb, Amina Al Rustamani, Abdulhamid Jumaa, Hala Bedari, Mohammed Saif Al Muqbali and Ali Sultan Al Hadad.
Sheikh Mohammed issued another decree appointing Muna Ghanem Al Marri as Director-General of Media Office of Dubai Government.
He also issued a decision appointing Ahmed Saeed Al Mansouri as Director General of DMI TV channels and Dhaen Shaheen as Director General for publishing sector at DMI.
The decrees were issued during Sheikh Mohammed's meeting with local media officials in Dubai.
Sheikh Mohammed stressed during the meeting the need for implementation of de-centralisation in administration so as to allow chance for innovation and creativity far from routine and bureaucracy, as well as training of the leaders of second and third classes in line with the strategy of Dubai Government.
He expressed his satisfaction about the general performance of DMI, urging all the employees to abide with the professional measures and teamwork spirit.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Chairman of DMI, Mohammed Al Shaibani, Director General of Dubai Ruler's Court, Khalifa Saeed Suleiman, Director General of the protocol and hospitality in Dubai and a number of officials were present.

Mohammed bin Rashid issues law, two decrees

The board of directors will be chaired by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, with Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, as Vice-Chairman, and Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Aviation Authority, and Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, Director-General of the Court of His Highness the Ruler of Dubai, in addition to his work as Chief Executive Officer of Investment Corporation of Dubai as the other board members.
The Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in his capacity as the Ruler of Dubai, has issued decree no.17 of 2012 establishing the Board of Directors of the Investment Corporation of Dubai".
Sheikh Mohammed also issued decree No. 18 of 2012 forming the Board of Directors of the Mohammed bin Rashid Housing Establishment.
The Board will be chaired by Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, with Hussain Nasser Lootah as Vice-Chairman and Sultan Butti bin Mejren, Abdullah Ahmed Al Habbai, Abdullah Fadel El Mazroui, Obaid Saeed Bin Meshar and Sami Abdullah Gargash will be board members.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed also issued Law No. 9 of 2012 amending some provisions of Law No. 8 of the year 1997 on the organisation of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
The law and decrees shall be effective from the date of issuance and shall be published in the Official Gazette.

Sheikh Mohammed selects eight 'Expo Ambassadors'

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has selected eight individuals to serve as “Expo Ambassadors” to support the country’s bid to host the 2020 World Expo in Dubai.
These Expo Ambassadors, who were selected based on the quality of their submission to the recently concluded “Be part of it” competition, will represent the UAE at a high-level reception in Paris, France, on November 21. The reception will take place on the eve of the country’s upcoming presentation to the General Assembly of the 161 member nations of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the international organisation responsible for overseeing the bidding, selection and organisation of World Expos.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid also selected three youth winners, who will receive special recognition for their submissions, along with opportunities to represent the UAE’s Expo 2020 bid, such as participating in Expo-themed outreach programmes at educational institutions across the country.
These winners, who symbolise the diversity and inclusiveness of the UAE, represent the very best essays, poems, photographs, artworks and short films from among all of the entries submitted over the past four months in response to the question: Why should the UAE be chosen to host the world in 2020?
The eight Expo Ambassadors include:

• Sara Al Boom, UAE – short film
• Khawla Darwish, UAE – art
• Marwan Al-Haj, UAE – essay
• Adel Ibrahim, Comoros – art
• Muhammad Al Janabi, Iraq – photography
• Jasim M, India – art
• Eenas El Sheakh, Egypt – poetry
• Ben Ouattara, Germany – film

The three youth winners include:

• Maathangi Anirudh, India – art
• Ayesha Khan, India – poetry
• George Zacharia, India – art

Each of these winning entries – along with all other submissions entered throughout the “Be part of it” competition – can be viewed on the Expo 2020 website.
Dubai, UAE is competing against four other candidate cities bidding to host the 2020 World Expo, including Ayutthaya (Thailand); Ekaterinburg (Russia); Izmir (Turkey); and Sao Paulo (Brazil). The winning city will be announced in November 2013 following a vote by the 161 member nations of the BIE.