Scotland is looking to Qatar to invest billions of dollars in its creaking infrastructure system, which is badly in need of a facelift after years of underinvestment.
First Minister Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party, is reported to be planning a trip to the gas-rich Gulf state next year to ask its government to provide billions of dollars worth of loans for improvement projects to his country's road, rail and power networks, according to the Scotland on Sunday newspaper.
Any deal, which would involve Scotland paying back the debt over a number of years, would solve a major headache for the government as it struggles to raise the cash for projects including the new 4 billion-pound ($7.34 billion) Forth Road Bridge and a 5 billion-pound electricity cable running under the North Sea.
Both the public and private sector in western Europe are increasingly looking to cash-rich Middle East nations and their hugely wealthy government-backed investment vehicles - sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) - to secure funding.
Many SWFs have hundreds of billions of dollars at their disposal, accumulated from years of oil profits.
Qatar’s fund is thought to be worth $60 billion and is expected to double in value by 2010.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organisation which lends to poorer nations around the world, estimates total investment by SWFs in 2012 will top $12 trillion.
Arabian Business
Follow us on our social media channels:
@ILQlive
@ILQlive
@ILoveQtr
ILoveQatar
