Finance

$500bn QIA to go ‘aggressive’ and close big deals says CEO

By Pramod Kumar

December 12, 2024, 10:58 AM

Qatar is the world’s largest LNG supplier and plans to expand output from 77 mtpa to 126 mtpa by 2027

The $500-billion Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) will be investing more “aggressively” and closing more “big-ticket” deals, according to a news report.

Mohammed Al-Sowaidi, the fund’s new chief executive officer, told the Financial Times that QIA will invest with “more frequency” and undertake a review of its investment strategy.

The fund remains bullish on the US, the UK and Asia, focusing on technology, artificial intelligence, healthcare, real estate and infrastructure, he said.

QIA is expanding into Australia, South Korea and Southeast Asia as part of its growth strategy. It is starting to hire locally in Australia and South Korea, Abdulla Ali Al-Kuwari, head of Asia Pacific at QIA Advisory, told a panel at the Milken Institute Asia Summit 2024 in Singapore in September.

“We started Japan with the team maybe three years ago, now we are doubling it. It is a market to focus for us,” he said.

Qatar is the world’s largest LNG supplier and plans to expand output to 126 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 2027, from 77 mtpa currently, under the two-phase North Field expansion project.

Al-Sowaidi said the inflows could double in size over five years, as QIA is the primary recipient of the LNG revenues.

Gross domestic product is forecast to surge to nearly 13 percent in 2026, after sluggish growth of only 1.5 percent this year and 2.5 percent in 2025, according to data compiled by Capital Economics, an economic research company in London.

Government receipts are forecast to rise by nearly 33 percent from 2025 to 2026, according to James Swanston at Capital Economics.

“The hope will be that as the North Field comes online, it paves the way for investments elsewhere in the private sector to promote activity.”

Al-Sowaidi replaced Mansoor Al Mahmoud as the head of QIA, who had headed the sovereign wealth fund since 2018. He joined the fund in 2010 and worked as the Americas region’s chief investment officer.

The QIA, set up in 2005, manages revenues from liquefied natural gas exports, expected to add more than $30 billion to state revenues.

In June, the QIA announced plans to expand its portfolio in the US and Asia – particularly China and India.

The fund’s domestic holdings include stakes in Qatar National Bank – the Middle East and Africa’s biggest bank by assets – and former telecom monopoly Ooredoo.