Qatari Diar to set up $3bn global fund

LOOKING EAST: Qatari Diar plans to set up a $3 billion global fund and develop a $2 billion project in Hong Kong. (Getty Images)

Qatar's $40 billion property investment arm said on Tuesday it had bought a French industrial firm for 1.5 billion euros, planned to develop a $2 billion project in Hong Kong and had set up a $3 billion global fund.

Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company's Chief Executive Ghanim bin Saad Al-Saad said the firm would re-evaluate its assets in Europe given the strength of the euro, though it hoped investments in the far East and South America would "balance this".

The real estate arm of sovereign wealth fund, Qatar investment Authority (QIA), expects 25% annual growth in its business.

"In 2009, there are a lot of opportunities coming for Qatari Diar in the Far East, especially in Vietnam, Cambodia and China," Al-Saad said, speaking ahead of a Palestinian investment conference in Ramallah.

"I believe 40% of our growth in construction projects [will be] mainly in Africa, North Africa and Cuba," Al-Saad told newswire Reuters in an interview. He added that the company's portfolio was now worth about $40 billion.

Qatari Diar is part of the country's Qatar Global Fund - with other Qatari investors - of which 30% will be invested in real estate in China, Vietnam and Cambodia, Ghanim said.

"We have good relations with big investors in Hong Kong to invest $2 billion in real estate development," Al-Saad said.

Despite currency fluctuations, Al-Saad said Qatar remained committed to its currency's peg to the dollar.

"I think this is a matter of political connection between Qatar's riyal and the dollar," he said. "We commit to keeping our currency [pegged] to the dollar for the future."

Qatari Diar and partner CPC Group bought London's Chelsea Barracks from Britain's Ministry of Defence for 959 million pounds in January.

The firm's affiliate Barwa Real Estate Company, for which Al-Saad is also the chairman, is part of a Qatari consortium building the 1.3 billion pound ($2.54 billion) Shard of Glass development near London Bridge.

"We plan to invest more in London, because it is an international city... We would like to invest in real estate mainly in Europe," Al-Saad said.

He also said Qatari Diar had bought a French industrial firm for 1.5 billion euros ($2.34 billion), but declined to name the firm as the deal was not public yet.

Qatari Diar, which now operates in 35 countries, is also set to sign a deal with prominent Palestinian businessman Bashar Masri, owner of Massar International, to invest in a $350 million project in a new Palestinian town in the West Bank, Al-Saad said. (Reuters)

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