Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world
Dubai Initative Fellow Tanwen Ellis will speak on the ever growing role of Sovereign Wealth Funds in the GCC and their implications for the international community.
The rapid economic growth of China and the massive accumulation of capital in oil-producing states during the 2000's raised both hopes and concerns about the expanding role of Sovereign Wealth Funds in the international arena. While some officials and pundits in the US and Europe warned that these large, state-controlled pools of capital could be used to promote the strategic political interests of emerging powers, others emphasized the potential benefits that new sources of capital with long-term investment horizons could provide within emerging economies.
Focusing on five specific funds (ADIA, Mubadala, Istithmar, Mumtalakat, and QIA) based in Gulf Cooperation Council countries, this presentation will illuminate the different ways in which these funds' investment strategies factor into development and diversification plans in the UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar. Through disaggregating the categories of SWFs and examining the goals and activities of particular funds, it will challenge the assumption that SWFs as a group represent either a coherent threat or a single new approach to development.