More on the Qatar Investment Authority
More on Sovereign wealth funds
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"The receiver can see me as an investor or as a political appointee. Which way they think is their job, not mine" |
"We are transparent," says Kamal, who is also general secretary of the supreme council for economic affairs and investment, a body that oversees QIA. He adds: "If I am going to invest money [other governments] should welcome me." He says he is unconcerned about the criticism that QIA and other sovereign wealth funds have received regarding their transparency.
"The receiver can see me as an investor or as a political appointee. Which way they think is their job, not mine," he says in an interview with Euromoney.
He also accuses the critics of sovereign wealth funds of hypocrisy. "At the same time [as criticizing] important people from [other] governments they are saying to us ‘please invest in our country’," says Kamal.
Sovereign wealth funds have come under fire in recent months, most notably from the EU and the US Treasury. Last month, Joaquin Almunia, European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, said that these funds’ investments would be restricted in Europe unless they were more transparent.
