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Tuesday May 6, 3:45 PM
Saudi plans investment agency open to partnersRIYADH, May 6 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said it is setting up a new investment agency that may also be open to partners, rather than a sovereign wealth fund, and urged countries to keep their doors open to foreign investment. "We don't have a sovereign fund but we have many investment funds," Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf told delegates at a conference in the Saudi capital on Tuesday. "What we are setting up is an investment company, not a sovereign fund."
Sovereign wealth funds, many based in oil-producing countries as well as key Asian exporters such as China, control between $2 to $3 trillion in assets. Investments by the funds have raised concerns about their potential political motives among Western countries, some of which are considering restrictions on their activities. The Saudi finance minister noted on Tuesday that the new agency would be smaller than other state-owned funds in the Gulf. "We would like to invest in profitable, low-risk assets," he said, without being more specific. "I reiterate the importance of avoiding restrictions on flows of capital ... whether these are coming from emerging countries or the opposite." Last week, the International Monetary Fund and 25 sovereign wealth funds established an international working group to draft the first-ever best practice guidelines for state-owned funds. The guidelines in governance and transparency are aimed at helping ease worries about the funds' growing size and influence, since many reveal little about their investments. (Reporting by Souhail Karam; Editing by James Cordahi/Richard Hubbard)
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