SWF Radar GCC

The BBC reports that, “Gordon Brown has said oil-rich Gulf states must play their part in stabilising world oil prices. Speaking ahead of a four-day tour of the region, the prime minister also said they should help countries hit by the global economic crisis. ”

The Financial Times reports that, “Sovereign wealth funds in the oil-rich Gulf states are actively seeking investments in the troubled US economy, Robert Kimmitt, the deputy US treasury secretary, said on Tuesday.”

Alessandro Bruno, a research analyst at Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, writes for Middle East Online that, “True ‘sustainable’ investment has at least three dimensions: economic, environmental, and social. With the conspicuous exception of Norway's Government Pension Fund - Global, Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) have paid relatively little attention to the latter two dimensions. We believe that the embrace of Sustainable Investment (SI) approaches by the SWFs, particularly those in the Persian Gulf region, could pay important economic, social, environmental and even political dividends.”

To be fair, some of them haven’t been paying too much attention to the first dimension either this past year.

Gulf News writes that, “Gulf sovereign wealth funds will play a significant role in stabilising the regional economies in the event of a global economic slowdown spilling over into the Gulf, Mohsin Khan, Director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department, told Gulf News on Sunday.”

The National reports that, “With an international credit squeeze threatening companies, infrastructure projects and financial markets, GCC governments are coming under pressure to tap their vast oil-revenue savings to avert problems.”

The Financial Times writes that, “Arab sovereign wealth funds are likely to pounce on distressed US assets after the government bail-out plan eases the extraordinary tensions in financial markets, according to [Gary Long, president of Investcorp,] one of the top intermediaries in the Gulf.”

Asia Times reports that, “Once committed largely to perceived safe-haven investments in the United States, Gulf nations are now looking to send their petrodollar surpluses towards a more exotic global destination: Southeast Asian farmland.”

The National writes that, “[E]ven as the credit crunch is tolling the death knell for some of the biggest western banks, experts say that tighter credit may help put Gulf economies on a healthier growth trajectory. Tighter credit is likely to ease inflation, reducing the cost of raw materials.”

The National reports that, “GCC economic representatives agreed on the general structure of a monetary union [Wednesday], during the conclusion of three days of discussions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.”

Thomson Reuters reports that, “Royal Bank of Scotland expects revenue in Gulf Arab countries to double in two years, a senior executive said on Tuesday, as petrodollars fuel growth in the region and swell the coffers of its sovereign wealth funds.”