By Syed Shabbar Zaidi

Copyright brecorder

Israeli attack on Qatari soil is not an unexpected act in the light of the present dominating situation of Israelis against their real and perceived enemies. The author is not capable of writing on international politics; however, being a person aware of investment and finance there is a need to highlight the mistakes the Middle Eastern countries are making in their investment decisions. Very recently from 13 to 16th May, US President Donald Trump visited Qatar. The report of that visit has the following significant features:

“MAKING AMERICAN MANUFACTURING AND INNOVATION GREAT AGAIN: Today in Qatar, President Donald J. Trump signed an agreement with Qatar to generate an economic exchange worth at least $1.2 trillion. President Trump also announced economic deals totaling more than $243.5 billion between the United States and Qatar, including an historic sale of Boeing aircraft and GE Aerospace engines to Qatar Airways.

The landmark deals celebrated today will drive innovation and prosperity for generations, bolster American manufacturing and technological leadership, and put America on the path to a new Golden Age.

Since President Trump took office, his commitment to American manufacturing and innovation has attracted trillions of dollars in investments and global commercial deals. Allies like Qatar are partnering in the United States’ success.”

This appears to be a smart move by Trump that Qatari funds are made available for revitalizing the US economy. However, it was not enough to prevent within six months of this extremely good gesture a brazen attack by the US’s closest ally violating Qatar’s sovereignty of Qatar.

This economic decision had a personal element too:

WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) – The United States has accepted a luxury Boeing 747 jetliner as a gift from Qatar and the Air Force has been asked to find a way to rapidly upgrade it for use as a new Air Force One to transport President Donald Trump, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth accepted the jet for use as Trump’s official plane, the Pentagon said. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the Defense Department “will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered.”

This has not ended the matter. The Israelis have stated that:

As the people killed in Israel’s surprise strike on a Hamas meeting in the Qatari capital were being buried at Doha’s Grand Mosque on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to launch new attacks on the country — a close U.S. ally — if it refused to eject the U.S.- and Israeli-designated terrorist group’s political representatives.

Qatar’s government has condemned Israel’s Tuesday strikes, saying the “criminal attack constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms, and poses a serious threat to the security and safety of the State of Qatar and its people.”

The U.S. has relied on Qatar to act as a go-between with Hamas, with which it had lied since long. Working through Hamas’ political office in Doha, both the Trump administration and the Biden administration before that have pushed hard, along with Egypt, to broker a ceasefire in the nearly two-year war between Israel and Hamas, sparked by the Palestinian group’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack. Senior Israeli officials have also traveled to Qatar many times to take part in these negotiations since the war began.

Qatar also hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East, the Al-Udeid Air Base, where thousands of American military personnel are stationed.

Leaving the political aspects aside it is important to see the one sided approach of Qatar for their investment strategies. Some of the facts are as under:

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is a Sovereign Wealth Fund located in Doha Qatar, Middle East, and was founded in 2005. Current Assets for QIA is USD 557,000,000,000 and SWFI has 34 periods of historical assets, 69 subsidiaries, 30 Opportunities/RFPs, 203 personal contacts available for CSV Export.

This is the seventh largest investment fund in the world. Being a person engaged in investment and finance, the author is of the view that Qataris are making a mistake by placing all their eggs in one basket by investing most of the funds in the western economies. Furthermore, even the return on that investment is inadequate. As per the international reports, the status of return is as under:

“There isn’t a single “average” return rate for all Middle Eastern investments in the U.S. because returns vary greatly by investment type, individual company, and economic conditions, but the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported a 5.8% inward rate of return on foreign investment in the U.S. in 2022. Middle Eastern investment in the US is significant and growing, with substantial foreign direct investment, but its average return is not isolated and is included in the broader category of foreign investment”.

The US economy is a contracting economy. As against that China’s, India’s and Russia’s are expanding at a faster rate. These economies are generating reasonable resources of their own; therefore, they do not have a very high level of appetite for foreign investment from investors like Qatar fund. On the other hand, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nigeria each have a population of over 200 million, which can provide a substantially higher rate of return for Qataris’ investments. The author firmly believes that from many angles it would be a win-win situation for both the countries.

At present, there is very insignificant investment of this fund in Pakistan. There are reported negotiations for a USD 3 billion investment by Qataris in Pakistan; however, the author is very pessimistic about materialization of the said investment for the reason that particular projects have not been identified as yet. If the said investment is the acquisition of existing facilities, such that made by Abu Dhabi Port Authority by acquiring the existing port then there would be no material improvement, except temporary cash flow advantage, for Pakistan.

It is unfortunate that Qataris’ investment mindset is significantly dominated by US and western advisors because their investment strategy does not realise for them the gains that it should. History is full of evidence where politics and national interests override the technical expertise. This is what happening with Middle Eastern countries in heeding to advisors from the west.

The author considers that the attack by Israel should open the eyes of the Qatari policymakers in relation to their investment strategy; and they will make efforts to diversify the use of their money in a manner which may give them more return and may assist militarily at the time of need. Pakistan is the nuclear power and the ultimate answer for countering such threats.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025