Qatar plans to invest billions of dollars in Germany-report

Solarworld AG

02/09/2018 15:20

FRANKFURT, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Qatar plans to invest billions
of dollars more in Germany and will broaden its focus to the
country's medium-sized companies, business newspaper
Handelsblatt said in a report due to be published on Monday.
    Citing diplomatic and company sources, the paper said that
the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and private sector players
would be looking at Germany's "Mittelstand" manufacturing
companies.
    "We see Germany as a key player in the world economy and are
looking at the German market with great optimism," Handelsblatt
quoted Qatar's Minister of Finance Ali Sharif al-Emadi as
saying. 
    "Our delegation will be announcing big new investments," he
said in an interview in the Handelsblatt report ahead of a Qatar
Germany Business and Investment Forum in Berlin on Sept. 7.
    Qatar, the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas
(LNG), has shareholdings in companies including Volkswagen
 VOWG.DE , Deutsche Bank  DBKGn.DE , Siemens  SIEGn.DE ,
Hochtief  HOTG.DE  and SolarWorld  SWVKk.F .
    Handelsblatt calculated that they jointly amounted to $20
billion.
    Al-Emadi said Qatar was happy with its investments, despite
having incurred some losses from Solarworld and Deutsche Bank
engagements. "We have a lot of stamina, and that goes for all
sectors," he said.
    Germany's economy ministry did not immediately respond to a
Reuters request to comment.

 (Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by Jane Merriman)
 ((vera.eckert@thomsonreuters.com; +49 69 7565 1228; Reuters
Messaging: vera.eckert.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))