PH eyes Qatar sovereign fund investments

The head of the Duterte administration’s economic team is inviting the Qatar government’s sovereign wealth fund to invest in housing, logistics, pharmaceuticals and tourism, the Department of Finance said yesterday.

In a statement, the DOF said a delegation from state-owned holding firm Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) would arrive in September as a follow-through to President Duterte’s visit to the Middle East last month.

During a recent meeting, Qatar Ambassador to Manila Ali Ibrahim A. I. Al-Malki told Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III that the President’s visit was deemed “very successful” as the two countries signed an investment protection and promotion agreement.

The agreement would allow the entry of about $1 billion in investments into the Philippines from the QIA, which reports early this year claimed had $335 billion in assets worldwide, making it the 14th biggest wealth fund.

Dominguez enjoined the Qatari envoy to look into possible investments in the Philippines’ logistics and tourism sectors.

“There are many areas where we need tourism facilities. We will welcome investments from your fund in that area,” Dominguez told the ambassador.

“We are an archipelagic nation, so Qatar can also look into investing in logistics, (specifically) shipping, here,” Dominguez added.

For his part, the Qatari ambassador was quoted by the DOF as saying that “he is planning to organize a tourism expo in Qatar showcasing the Philippines, as Qataris do not know much about our country as a tourist destination as they do the other Southeast Asian countries.”

Dominguez also pitched the domestic housing and pharmaceutical industries as potential investment areas.

In the statement, Dominguez said he would help arrange meetings between the QIA delegation and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other business groups if the planned Manila visit would push through.