(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Doha: Regarding the role of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the investment situation, and economic outlook in today's world, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the global economic landscape, created many opportunities, and stopped some businesses that were growing in previous years.
He pointed out that QIA is focusing heavily on diversifying Qatar's economy, and this means creating an alternative energy source for hydrocarbon, adding that Qatar's natural resources are managed by Qatar Petroleum, and the QIA is the arm that helps and supports the government to create alternative energy sources for future generations.
His Excellency continued, "We are very much focused on sustainable investments whether it's in technology, infrastructure, education, healthcare, and those sectors prevailed even during the (COVID-19) pandemic."
"And one important element we are looking at is to apply it to our matrix which should have any economic impact for the country that we are investing in and for Qatar and its environmental impact for the globe," he added.
"We are very much focused and determined even with the pandemic. I believe most of the sovereign wealth fund has done very well in terms of investments in the last year, and we hope that we continue like this.
"It is very important to keep our strategy very dynamic given the change in the dynamics in the world, (it) is getting much faster than before," HE the Minister said.
In response to a question about the importance of technology, digital assets, and diversification of assets, HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said that it was very important even before the pandemic, and historically QIA has focused on financial assets, real estate, and traditional assets, but in recent years it has redirected its strategy to focus on technology and education, for example, the distance education, which QIA invested in since 2018 and when the pandemic came, these companies became among the leading companies. "For us, technology and digitization is a very important element and I think it is an infrastructure goal. We have seen an expansion in communications technology."
About digital and cryptocurrencies, the Foreign Minister said, "For us, as a sovereign wealth fund, we look very carefully how risky is the investment because we believe that we are managing funds for our children, our grandchildren, for the next generations to come, not for ourselves to enjoy for a short term."
"Digital currency is still unclear there is no certainty about it, maybe in the coming years it will be strengthened, it will be something more popular and it will get much better value and this will be good for the early investors but we would rather have less return but be on a solid ground," he said. the Minister stressed that they have no plans to get into the crypto space anytime soon.
On the future of the QIA in the next ten years, HE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said that the goal is to have a balance between financial services, technology, infrastructure, healthcare, and education, as QIA focused at the beginning on financial services and real estate, now it is investing mainly in infrastructure, technology, healthcare, and education. "Diversification in terms of sector and geography is key for us," he added.
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