Qatar Daily News

IDB Holding Corp will launch a $1 billion fund with Credit Suisse Group AG and two groups from Saudi Arabia and Qatar that will invest in emerging markets, the company announced.

“We see a great potential in the emerging markets, which constitute a long-term growth engine for the global economy,” IDB Chairman Nochi Dankner said. “The intensification of the emerging markets is part of a significant financial-political process occurring throughout world, of which the financial crisis was but one of its peaks, where the economic hegemony is gradually shifting from the West to the East.

“The investment in the Emerging Market Credit Opportunity Fund (EMCO) will enable us to deepen the activities of IDB in countries such as China, India and Brazil, as well as to create a presence in other countries in Asia and Latin America that are characterized by high growth rates and a high potential for value creation,” the Jerusalem Post quoted him as saying. Read the rest of this entry »

Wealth funds of gas-rich Qatar are likely to make further global real estate investments as prices in countries such as Germany decline, Jones Lang LaSalle said in a report today.

The funds “are likely to be emerging as the new powerhouse in terms of global real estate capital flows in 2010,” Fadi Moussalli, regional director at Jones Lang LaSalle MENA said in the e-mailed report.

“Cash-rich and with a strong appetite for splashy overseas assets, Qatari vehicles have lately outshined their counterparts from the region and are projected to carry on with their rapid expansion across the real estate world,” Moussalli said.

The International Monetary Fund expects the Qatari economy to grow 18.5 percent this year, far above estimates for the rest of the Gulf Arab region. Harrods Ltd., owner of the London luxury department store, was sold to Qatar Holding LLC by Mohamed Al-Fayed last month. The price was 1.5 billion pounds ($2.2 billion), said two people familiar with the transaction.
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Vodafone Qatar is taking “legal action” against the country’s telecom regulator ictQATAR, for “allowing Virgin Mobile’s entry into the market without being licensed”.

The Qatari telecoms regulator is facing legal action from Vodafone Qatar, after it awarded a licence to Virgin Mobile to provide MVNO services in the Gulf country.

The move follows a deal that Virgin signed with Qatar Telecom (Qtel) to break the existing duopoly and launch pre-paid mobile service, Virgin Mobile Qatar, which Richard Branson launched on May 15 by riding a jetski.
Vodafone Qatar has argued that this breaks the country’s telecoms law and is a Read the rest of this entry »

Qatar Holding, the investment arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, has set up a $1 billion Indonesian fund to invest in infrastructure and natural resources in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, officials said on Monday.

The new investment fund is a sign of increasing interest in Indonesia among Middle East and other international investors thanks to the country’s abundant resources and desperate need for financing for infrastructure projects ranging from power plants to roads, railways, and bridges.
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The world’s top LNG exporter Qatar is pumping growing amounts of helium as a by-product of gas output and aims to become the world’s second largest helium producer with a new plant, its energy minister said.

Qatar exports liquefied natural gas (LNG) with gas output from its giant North Field, the world’s largest known pure natural gas reservoir.

Helium is used in medical diagnostics such as MRI scanners and has industrial applications for semiconductor processing, fiber optics and welding. It is the second most abundant element in the universe after hydrogen.

Expatriates are more likely to secure a new job in Saudi Arabia than in any other country in the GCC, according to the latest employment data released today by GulfTalent.com, the leading Middle East online recruitment firm.

The number of expatriate employees in the Kingdom rose by an estimated 2.4% in the fourth quarter of 2009, followed by Qatar with a 2.2% increase. Oman also showed a marginal rise, with a 0.3% growth.

The results are based on actual staff increases and decreases reported by 11,000 managers across the region, who participated in a survey by GulfTalent.com.
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The head of Qatar’s financial watchdog said Monday the Gulf Arab state has seen a rise in interest from Dubai companies in the last six months as firms look to a safer regulatory environment in the wake of the emirate’s debt crisis.

Alfardan Premier Motors, exclusive importer of Land Rover in Qatar, has recorded a growth of 120 per cent in sales of Land Rover over the past 12 months.

“The year 2009 has been earmarked with scores of successes against the backdrop of a turbulent global economic scene which had particular impact on the international automotive industry,” said Mohammed Kandeel, general manager of Alfardan Premier Motors.

“This outstanding sales increase accentuates Alfardan Premier Motors’ solid fundamentals and future growth potentials,” he added.
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The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), which manages investments for the gas-rich nation, has offered the equivalent of 740 million euros in the form of loan guarantees, French business magazine La Lettre de l’Expansion reported.

“CMA is in discussion with the Qatar fund,” a source close to the matter told AFP, without providing more details. An agreement could be reached by the northern hemisphere summer.

Contacted by AFP, CMA CGM refused to comment.
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Vodafone Qatar has been awarded the second fixed line licence by the Qatar telecoms regulator, a company announcement said.

The award of the licence, by the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR), is subject to the change in the company’s articles of association which will be recommended to be approved at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM).

Commenting on the licence award, Vodafone Qatar CEO Grahame Maher said: “Vodafone is delighted as this will strengthen our ability to make a world of difference for all the people in Qatar. The combined strengths provided by the mobile and fixed services will allow us to deliver total communications services to our customers, whilst delivering value to our customers and shareholders.”
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