Qatar’s QIA plans to double U.S. investments in coming years

Investing.com - Qatar’s wealth fund is due to see its annual investments into the U.S. double in the coming years following a $500 billion investment promise.

Speaking to Bloomberg News, Qatar Investment Authority CEO Mohammed Al Sowaidi said that the fund will likely increase, and in some years more than double, its U.S. expenditures when compared to the past five to six years.

"It’s very important to think organically how do you grow and U.S. is 60% of the available trading markets in the world, so it makes sense that most of it will go to the U.S. market," Al Sowaidi noted.

"We also believe in the robustness of the U.S. systems," he said.

Al Sowaidi previously said that Qatar would invest an additional $500 billion in the U.S. over the coming decade, which would approximately match the size of the fund.

Qatar’s new spending on the U.S. is due to focus on areas like artificial intelligence and data centers and aid U.S. President Donald Trump’s goal of bolstering manufacturing domestic manufacturing jobs, Al Sowaidi previously said.

Last week, Trump visited Qatar as part of a multi-day tour of the Gulf focused on securing business deals and strengthening ties with countries in the region.

Trump signed agreements with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani which U.S. officials claimed would lead to economic activity worth over $1 trillion, although the White House did not provide full details behind the calculation.

Since being targeted by a Trump-backed trade and economic embargo in 2017 imposed by a number of countries, Qatar has moved to revitalize its reputation with Washington. Trump was the first U.S. president to visit the small, oil-rich nation in more than two decades.