DAMMAM, 19 February 2007 — A recent study indicates that the Arab countries in general and Gulf countries in particular have created the required environment for the return of investments that have been flowing to foreign countries.
According to the study report prepared by the Gulf Center for Strategic Studies, which estimated the investment made by the Gulf businessmen in the West at $2.8 trillion, the Gulf countries have been striving to liberalize their economies and create an environment that attracts foreign investments in addition to checking any further drain on the domestic investments.
The other steps adopted by the Gulf countries include the encouragement for the private sector and facilities for transfer of technology.
The study assures that the investments in the region could be highly profitable. The governments in the region have been enacting laws to guarantee the safety of investments. The safety of the investments and their profits are particularly significant as the Arab investments in the West have been exposed to risks such as their freezing or seizing on the claim of stopping the sources of terror financing.
The Arab deposits in the West also stand the risk of being seized for paying compensations for the people who suffered some attacks attributed to Middle Eastern sources.
Under these circumstances, the study recommended that the Gulf countries should have a unified investment strategy tapping every investment opportunity in the region.
The study also urged a rapid privatization process and merger of smaller companies to big corporations. The study also emphasized the need for maximum transparency and supply of detailed information about everything to boost the investor confidence.
The study, however, noted that the Gulf countries have so far succeeded only to attract $40 billion accounting for 0.6 percent of the total international investments in the world.