TheChek News Flow

What are its plans? The Qatar Investment Authority’s new chief executive told the Financial Times it expected to “do bigger-ticket deals” and invest with “more frequency”. Mohammed Al-Sowaidi said the QIA was bullish on the US, where it has increased its exposure significantly over the past decade, as well as in the UK and Asia, with a focus on technology, artificial intelligence, healthcare, real estate and infrastructure. The fund also plans to build up its offices in the US and Singapore and is “scaling up with third-party managers”.

What’s prompting the moves? An expected petrodollar windfall. Qatar is one of the world’s top liquefied natural gas producers, and overall production capacity is forecast to rise almost 85 per cent by the end of the decade. The IMF estimated in a 2022 report that the expansion would raise the Gulf state’s real GDP by 5.7 per cent by 2027 and add roughly 3.5 per cent of GDP in export receipts a year. The main recipient of the LNG revenues will be the QIA, and Sowaidi said the inflows had the potential to double its size over five years. Here’s more from Sowaidi, including his take on Donald Trump’s tariff plans and Elon Musk.