ANKARA, 1st April, 2023 (WAM) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday pledged to rebuild the country's southern region that was struck by powerful earthquakes on 6th February, claiming the lives of more than 50,000 people.

"Our aim is to restore our cities in the earthquake zone by handing over 319,000 residences and village houses to owners within a year," Erdogan said at a ground-breaking ceremony in quake-hit Elazig province.

According to state-run Anadolu Agency, Erdogan said Türkiye will erase the traces of the destruction caused by the disaster, and prepare "more strongly" for possible disasters in the future.

Magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck 11 Turkish provinces. More than 13.5 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the quakes, as well as many others in northern Syria.

UMM AL QAIWAIN, 1st April, 2023 (WAM) — H.H. Sheikh Saud bin Rashid Al Mu'alla, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Umm Al Qaiwain, Saturday received Ramadan well-wishers at his palace in the presence of H.H. Sheikh Rashid bin Saud bin Rashid Al Mu'alla, Crown Prince of Umm Al Qaiwain, on the tenth day of the holy month.

Sheikh Saud received Ramadan greetings from Sheikhs, Chairmen and Heads of government departments in the country; dignitaries; and businesspersons, who congratulated him on the occasion of the Holy Month and wished him good health and further progress for the UAE and other Muslim and Arab nations.

A number of sheikhs, heads of departments and top officials attended the reception.

ABU DHABI, 1st April, 2023 (WAM) — Canadian Ambassador to the UAE, Kris Panday, has welcomed the launch of the Canada-UAE Sovereign Wealth Fund Council (SWFC).

“The mission of the SWFC is to harness the synergies between Canada and the UAE’s preeminent institutional investors to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns in support of common interests”, said the Ambassador.

The SWFC will help identify opportunities for strategic capital collaboration and thought leadership between Canadian public Pension Funds (PPFs) and UAE Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in global markets, he noted.

It is designed to offer an investment collaboration framework that has a more dynamic and flexible structure benefitting Canada and the UAE as two key investment partners, Panday said.

Panday will serve as Chief Co-Patron of the SWFC along with Fahad Saeed Al Raqbani, the UAE Ambassador to Canada.

Shezad Rokerya has been appointed as Senior Advisor to Ambassador Panday and will serve as Chairman of the SWFC.

Ambassador Al Raqbani said, “Through the Canada-UAE SWFC we have the capacity to capitalise on the individual strengths of both countries, bringing together innovative ideas, expert knowledge, and resources to power sustainable economic development and investment possibilities.”

He added, “This partnership paves the way for further cooperation that will impact the global financial outlook in the future. It is not only a strategic opportunity but also a shared responsibility in constructing a more sustainable and equitable future for all.”

Rokerya, SWFC Chairman, said, “The top six Canadian PPFs and UAE SWFs cumulatively manage over US$3 trillion in assets. The SWFC will enable these stakeholders to jointly develop investment strategies and deploy capital globally in a transformative and impactful manner to achieve significant value creation.”

This initiative will serve as a catalyst for empowering multiple constituents from both Canada and the UAE to strategically develop and collaborate in investments globally. The SWFC stakeholders will be able to leverage each other’s respective strengths, challenges, experience and thought leadership in each asset class, sector, and geographic influence to develop areas of collaboration. The SWFC will lead discussions with senior leadership from Canadian PPFs and UAE SWFs to develop a governance framework and outline shared alignment and overarching criteria for the development of potential co-investment strategies.