Al Khaleej to delay projects, funding plans

CRUNCH BITES: Khaliq said the company expects future projects and funding plans to be delayed. (ITP Images)

Bahrain's Al Khaleej Development Co. said on Tuesday it expects some future projects and financing plans to be delayed on fears direct investment is dwindling.

Al Khaleej, also known as Tameer, said nervy investors are unwilling to throw cash at big projects because of the uncertainty in the world markets and the looming risk of a global recession.

"There is some expectation that because liquidity is shrinking, this will have some effect on projects," Mohammed Abdul Khaliq, executive director of Al Khaleej, which is building the $1.6 billion Bahrain Investment Wharf (BIW) industrial park, told Arabian Business at Cityscape.

“It will delay projects. You won’t be able to go to the market which is frightened of taking a decision. Investors are holding the cash so this will delay some of our activities and raising finance."

Khaliq would not be drawn on which projects or financing plans will be delayed.

Khaliq stressed that schemes already underway, including a luxury residential development on Tala Island off the coast of Bahrain, will not be affected by financing concerns and are going ahead.

The firm, which has a market value of $450 million and a portfolio worth around $5 billion, relies on direct investment - money raised from investors - as one of its primary sources of funding for projects.

The developer attracts much of its investment from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

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