Qua Vadis Qatar Fund

INDONESIA, QATAR TO FORM JOINT INVESTMENT FUND


Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesia and Qatar will form a joint investment fund worth 1 billion USD to buy bonds and shares in the capital market, local media reported.

"The composition of the joint investment fund could be 70 percent for Qatar and 30 percent for Indonesia, or the ratio could be 80:20," the Antara news agency on May 5 quoted Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu as saying.

Mari said representatives of the United Arab Emirates would come to Indonesia within the next three months to form a joint commission on bilateral economic cooperation.

Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have since September 2001 switched the destination of government investment funds derived from state budget surpluses from the United States and the European Union to other potential markets, especially to Islamic banking, Mari said.

The Indonesian minister added that the largest market potential in the five Middle Eastern countries is for products for construction, furniture, food, construction services, oil and gas, skilled workers and semi-skilled workers.-Enditem