
Middle Eastern wealth funds ready to increase investments in China: Survey
The remaining 40% will continue to maintain their investment.
Sovereign funds in Asia-Pacific and Africa will be more proactive, with 88% and 80%, respectively, expressing intentions to increase their investments. About 73% of North American funds are open to investing in China.
The global funds cited several factors when justifying their increased investments in China, with 71% identifying strong returns made in China, 63% wanting to diversify, and 45% citing increased market access for foreign investors.
The most attractive sectors for investment in China were digital technology and software, advanced manufacturing and automation, and clean energy and green technology, the Invesco report said.
Martin Franc, CEO of Asia ex-Japan, Invesco, said that respondents approved of supportive policies from Beijing and believed the market was a place where innovative technologies could blossom.
'Their growth story has only a limited amount to do with what happens in the West. So, it is phenomenal for political and capital diversification,' the study reported quoting an unnamed Middle East-based sovereign wealth fund.
The study polled 141 senior investment professionals, including chief investment officers, heads of asset classes, and portfolio strategists, from 83 sovereign wealth funds and 58 central banks worldwide, who collectively managed $27 trillion in assets.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The National
8 minutes ago
- The National
Iraq and Syria discuss revival of Kirkuk–Baniyas oil pipeline
Iraq and Syria on Tuesday discussed ways to boost bilateral energy co-operation, including the revival of the long-defunct Kirkuk-Baniyas oil pipeline that once transported Iraqi crude to Europe via Syria. Syrian Energy Minister Mohammad Al Bashir and Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani agreed in their talks in Baghdad to form joint technical teams to assess whether to rehabilitate the decades-old line or build a new one, said a report from Syria's state-run news agency, Sana, and a statement from the Iraqi Oil Ministry. Mr Abdel Ghani said the 'latest unrest in the region could affect Iraq's oil exports, making alternative routes a priority'. He proposed hiring specialised firms to determine the feasibility of restoring the old pipeline or building a replacement. Built in 1952, the pipeline ran about 850 kilometres from the oil-rich Kirkuk in northern Iraq to the Mediterranean port of Baniyas in Syria. At the time, its daily capacity was about 300,000 barrels per day. Operations came to a halt after the outbreak of Iran -Iraq war in 1980 due to political disputes with the Syrian regime, a close ally of Tehran. The pipeline briefly reopened in 2000 to bypass UN economic sanctions on Iraq following its invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The pipeline was heavily damaged during the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein and has remained out of service since. Experts said it would need billions of dollars and stability in Iraq and Syria for it to be restored. Mr Al Bashir said Syria currently imports about three million barrels of crude per month, in addition to its own output, to meet domestic demand, Sana reported. He stressed the 'necessity of linking oil networks between Iraq and Syria to enhance economic co-operation'. Reviving the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline would provide Baghdad with a new export outlet, instead of sending oil to international markets through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf, and provide Damascus with a source of badly needed fuel. Another pipeline, linking Kirkuk to Turkey's Ceyhan oil terminal, has been idle since 2023 because of a dispute between Baghdad and Ankara. Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz during its 12-day aerial war with Israel in June, jeopardising Iraq's oil sales that provide more than 90 per cent of its federal budget. Mr Al Bashir and Mr Abdel Ghani also discussed laying fibre-optic cables in parallel with the pipeline to boost regional connectivity with Lebanon, Sana said. The establishment of ties began after Syrian rebels led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, a largely Sunni group formerly affiliated with Al Qaeda, toppled former president Bashar Al Assad in December. Shiite-majority Iraq has called for an inclusive political process in Syria, expressed concern over the danger posed by a resurgent ISIS, and demanded protection for religious and ethnic minorities and Shiite shrines. In recent months, the two countries exchanged high-level delegations, reopened the main border crossing for travellers and goods, and increased co-operation in the fight against drugs.


Zawya
33 minutes ago
- Zawya
AI and data are reshaping Africa's retail sector
The African retail landscape is under immense pressure. Consumers are more digitally savvy and price-conscious than ever, and expect brands to offer convenience, personalisation, and value. About half of consumers will switch brands if their expectations are unmet, compelling retailers to continuously innovate and improve. Industry growth is tapering down across several African markets. South Africa's real retail growth has declined in recent years, constrained by economic stagnation and inflation. In East Africa, while GDP growth remains relatively strong, formal retail continues to be constrained by infrastructure gaps and logistical inefficiencies. In response, retailers across the continent are scaling their technology investments to boost competitiveness in an increasingly digital and data-driven industry. According to Gartner, African retailers are projected to invest $300m in cloud-based enterprise applications in 2025, with an expected growth of 10-12% over the next three years And yet, many still struggle to translate these investments into meaningful business outcomes. The triple disconnect holding retailers back 1. Fragmented systems, broken processes undermine scalability Despite deploying multiple best-of-breed applications and investing in a data lake to centralise data, many retailers fail to achieve differentiated customer engagement, real-time visibility and reliability in their operations. Typical constraints include disconnected systems, a lack of business context within data sets, and AI bolted-on instead being embedded within operational workflows. A pervasive industry pain point is the disconnected customer journeys caused by fragmented systems and broken processes. To illustrate: a customer may browse a product online, call the nearest store to check stock availability, visit in person and still find a different price to what was listed online. Or they may purchase the product online but be unable to return the product instore due to a disconnect between online and physical store data. This is caused when customer data, inventory, pricing, and orders are not synchronised across channels. And it's not just limited to customer experience - these fragmented processes are widespread across retail operations, often leading to operational inefficiencies and higher costs. At the root of this problem is a disconnected application landscape. In fact, 66% of organisations say application sprawl and complexity hinder their digital goals, resulting in process inefficiencies and a lack of reliability in retail operations. 2. Data is an opportunity, but a challenge too African retailers are sitting on mountains of data spanning point-of-sale systems, loyalty platforms, mobile apps, and third-party sources. But is this high volume, variety, and velocity of data being leveraged effectively to drive business outcomes? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Around 55% of business leaders cite poor data quality and fragmentation as the biggest obstacles to making data-driven decisions. Moreover, a disproportionate amount of time is spent on data management and building dashboards as against decision-making, underscoring the urgent need for more efficient processes. 3. AI without a solid foundation doesn't scale While there's palpable excitement in boardrooms over the potential and power of AI, execution remains limited. One study found that nearly three-quarters of organisations are struggling to scale AI projects beyond pilot projects. African retailers face even greater challenges, including poor-quality data, outdated IT infrastructure, and a lack of AI-ready processes. The result is AI initiatives that turn into isolated experiments that fail to deliver any meaningful ROI. Instead, retailers need to leverage a unified data platform that embeds AI directly into their business processes to scale AI initiatives effectively. The power of a unifying platform Leading retailers leverage a comprehensive, connected, and industry-specific suite of applications to confidently execute across their value chain. This helps ensure a consistent and reliable customer experience, minimising stock-outs, enabling fast, on-time delivery and delivering a seamless omni-channel journey. This reliability extends across store operations, finance, and support processes. The SAP Business Suite, for example, enables this efficiency through automation, actionable insights, and process optimisation, while the SAP Business Data Cloud provides seamless access to organisational data. Retailers also benefit from deep industry expertise and global context that helps them identify the correct application mix for integrating, harmonising and transforming business data across various applications. This also provides the foundation to scale AI effectively across retail operations through unified, context-rich data that brings together sales, inventory, promotional, customer behaviour and other data. By connecting end-to-end processes, retailers can also embed AI and enable seamless cross-functional workflows while leveraging innovations from a rich ecosystem of partnerships. Retailers leveraging SAP's connected platform and AI capabilities report a 20-30% reduction in customer churn, 30-50% fewer stockout, an up to 40% increase in workforce productivity and 20-30% reduction in IT spend. Realising Africa's data-rich, AI-powered retail future requires bold steps to shift beyond legacy systems and redefine operations. By utilising a powerful business suite, retailers can unlock new end-to-end capabilities that bring together applications, data and AI for unrivalled competitiveness. All rights reserved. © 2022. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (


Gulf Business
an hour ago
- Gulf Business
OSN, The Trade Desk launch MENA streaming ad partnership
Image: OSN website/ For illustrative purposes only MENA entertainment provider OSN has partnered with US-based advertising technology firm The Trade Desk to open the broadcaster's programmatic video inventory to advertisers, the companies said. The deal makes The Trade Desk the first demand-side platform (DSP) to give brands direct access to OSNtv's connected television and addressable video-on-demand inventory, covering Arabic and international content including HBO, Warner Bros. Discovery titles and OSN original productions. 'At OSN, we're committed to innovation that enhances the advertising experience while maintaining the highest standards for our viewers,' Hamid Davari, OSN's director of advertising, said in a statement. 'Partnering with The Trade Desk on our Advanced TV products allows us to open our premium inventory to brands in a way that is transparent, data-rich, and performance-focused,' he added. OSN, The Trade Desk aim to empower advertisers to make smarter, more data-driven decisions Terry Kane, The Dubai-based broadcaster, which operates in 22 countries, was the first in the region to introduce an on-demand video service and holds exclusive rights to HBO programming in MENA. It said the partnership combines its content library and direct-to-home viewer base with The Trade Desk's buying tools to expand access to the region's premium streaming audience.