Institutional Investors are playing a crucial role in the investment attraction strategy of Investment Promotion Agencies, aiming to bolster capital inflow and foreign investment, especially in regions with constrained local liquidity. We are actively collaborating with UNESCAP to facilitate the development of Investor-ready projects for IPAs across the Asia Pacific region, positioning them as prime targets for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) influx - Article by Danielle Myles, FDI Intelligence
In years past, the world’s biggest foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges were the exclusive terrain of corporates. The rare $20bn-plus projects were inevitably masterminded by the Chevrons, Intels and EDFs of the world. This trend came to a screeching halt in February when ADQ, an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund (SWF), announced a $35bn investment into Egypt to develop the new city Ras al-Hekma along its central Mediterranean coast, plus a handful of related projects. According to fDi Markets, it is the biggest FDI commitment ever in the Middle East and Africa.
The ADQ deal laid bare the fact that SWFs, contrary to their historical role of investing surplus government revenues into public markets, are now moving the needle on FDI. Their potential is boosted by soaring assets under management (AUM). SWFs and public pension funds (PPF) had a collective $35.2tn in AUM as of March 2024, up from $18.2tn 10 years earlier, figures from research firm Global SWF show.
Investment-hungry governments have taken notice.
“That is direct cash, which is easy to funnel … into big infrastructure projects in things like offshore wind, hydrogen, nuclear power,” Lord Dominic Johnson, the UK’s investment minister, told fDi in February.
