Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KUWAIT1195
2006-04-05 13:01:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:  

PROMINENT KUWAITI INVESTMENT FIRM ESTABLISHES

Tags:  ECON EFIN WE GZ KU 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3008
PP RUEHDE
DE RUEHKU #1195 0951301
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 051301Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3847
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM PRIORITY
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI PRIORITY 0636
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS KUWAIT 001195 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP AND ALEXEI MONSARRAT, LONDON FOR TSOU,
PARIS FOR ZEYA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIN WE GZ KU
SUBJECT: PROMINENT KUWAITI INVESTMENT FIRM ESTABLISHES
PALESTINE FUND

REF: KUWAIT 374

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001195

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP AND ALEXEI MONSARRAT, LONDON FOR TSOU,
PARIS FOR ZEYA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIN WE GZ KU
SUBJECT: PROMINENT KUWAITI INVESTMENT FIRM ESTABLISHES
PALESTINE FUND

REF: KUWAIT 374


1. (U) Global Investment House (GIH),a leading Kuwaiti and
GCC investment company announced on April 3 the establishment
of a "Palestine Fund" for institutions and individuals
seeking to invest in the emerging Palestinian Territories
(PT) market.


2. (U) Quoted in the Arab Times (local English daily) on
April 4, GIH Executive Vice President of Corporate Finance
and Treasury Omar El-Quqa described the new fund as an
opportunity for GIH clients "to invest in an emerging market
that has displayed very positive signs in recent years; and
coupled by the political situation there, shows every promise
of a great environment for investments."


3. (U) According to El-Quqa, the fund's strategy is to
invest in listed equity, Pre-Initial Public Offering
companies, private placement securities and IPOs in the PT
market. The GIH official voiced optimism about the growing
Palestinian stock market, which currently stands at a $4.45
billion market cap (200 per cent increase from 2004).

Comment
--------------


4. (U) GIH's investments in the PT underscore the company's
increasingly expansive investment strategy in the Middle East
and represents renewed GIH interest in the PT following
initial reservations in the aftermath of the Hamas election
victory (reftel).

Background on GIH
--------------


5. (U) GIH was formed in 1998 and has quickly become a
regional powerhouse staffed by 220 professional staff members
(majority hold post-graduate MBAs) offering a full range of
investment banking services to over 4,000 clients
representing a wide variety of private firms and individuals,
primarily from the GCC. GIH was listed on the Kuwait Stock
Exchange in 2003 and has since been added to the Dubai
Foreign Exchange and the Berlin Stock Exchange. The company
has a market capitalization of over $2.5B, manages assets
valued at over $6B and posted $130M in profits in 2005. GIH
is considered to be one of the largest investment banks in
the region with operations and investments in all GCC
countries and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa,
including Jordan, Sudan, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, Tunisia, and
Morocco. Additional information, including investment
reports, is available on
the company's website: www.globalinv.net.

********************************************
For more Embassy Kuwait reporting, see:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/cables

Or Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/
********************************************
TUELLER