By IANS,
Dubai : Leaders of the global investment community, especially in the Middle East, will gather in Dubai in November to take part in a conference on alternative investment management.
Over 500 influential business people from the Middle East are expected to participate in the Global Alternative Investment Management (GAIM) Middle East to be held here Nov 16-19, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
The organisers have also lined up over 60 international and regional speakers.
“While regional markets have not proved immune to the (global economic) downturn, many investment and fund managers remain bullish and are looking to increase investment in high growth Middle East countries, particularly the Arabian Gulf,” Jeremy Butcher, co-director of the conference, was quoted as saying.
He added that investment houses across the world were increasingly looking towards the Middle East for investment opportunities as developed markets slip into recession.
Relatively cheap valuations of Middle East listed companies, coupled with an increasingly progressive regulatory environment, are expected to attract more long-term institutional money to the region.
According to Julia Wilson, another co-director of the event, high oil prices triggered the first wave of investment in industrial and infrastructure projects in the Gulf.
“It is estimated that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries would have invested around $3 trillion in the region by 2020,” she said.
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) comprise the GCC.
“Regional companies are also becoming global players as wealthy regional funds and individuals invest around the world, a trend (that is) expected to grow,” she said.