The Qatari fund manager would consider a partnership with an Asian firm, but first wants to boost its local equity penetration – a tough ask in the Middle East.
Even relative safe havens such as the GCC countries have suffered from turbulence in the wider Middle East and North Africa, despite the region’s potential.
A meeting in Muscat attended by leaders of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE concludes with plans to set up a Gulf central bank and introduce a common currency not unlike the euro.