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Ramallah: 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.
Ganem Bin Sa'ad Al Sa'ad, CEO of Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment, 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, expects 25 per cent annual growth in its business.
"In 2009, there are a lot of opportunities for Qatari Diar in the Far East, especially in Vietnam, Cambodia and China," Ganem said.
"I believe 40 per cent of our growth in construction projects [will be] mainly in Africa, North Africa and Cuba," Ganem said. He added that the company's portfolio was now worth about $40 billion.
Qatari Diar is part of the Qatar Global Fund - with other Qatari investors - of which 30 per cent will be invested in real estate in China, Vietnam and Cambodia, Ganem said.
"We have good relations with big investors in Hong Kong to invest $2 billion in real estate development," Ganem said.
Ganem 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."
"We plan to invest more in London, because it is an international city... We would like to invest in real estate mainly in Europe," Ganem said.
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