Praise to the petromonarchies and outstanding mentions of the Arab heritage of Spain. The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, has concluded this Wednesday its tour of the Persian Gulf without departing from the laudatory script designed to scratch investments from some of the most powerful sovereign wealth funds on the planet. “I think it is a good opportunity to capitalize on our good relationship and seek financing, investment and co-investment in the transformation and recovery of Spain”, the head of Spanish diplomacy has slipped from Doha, the last stop on a journey that He has carried her since Sunday through the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
In the confines of the Arabian Peninsula, where the prodigy of black gold began to be forged nine decades ago, Spain seeks to work its own miracle, that of economic recovery after the deep bruises of the crisis caused by the spread of the coronavirus. “We have agreed, after a very good discussion with the Emir and with the Foreign Minister, to put in place a structured mechanism to seek greater Qatari investment in projects of the Spanish recovery and transformation plan,” Gonzà ¡Lez Laya. “There is great interest in Qatar. They look at Spain, a country that Qatar knows well because it is already present with numerous investments and understands that there is now a great opportunity to co-invest with Spain in the transformation of our future country, “he added without going into more details.
In the last few months, the Persian Gulf sovereign wealth funds have increased their bargain hunting in the international market. The Public Investment Fund, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund whose governor the minister has met in Riyadh, has $ 320 billion in assets and has closed millions of purchases in times of pandemic. The Saudi authorities have also launched a campaign to get foreign multinationals to establish their regional headquarters in the kingdom.
In Qatar, the minister held a meeting with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country’s sovereign wealth fund. A few days ago, the Qatari ambassador in Spain, Abdalá bin Ibrahim al Hamar, boasted that the Qatari entity was already the second largest shareholder in the Spanish stock market. In total, Qatari investments in our country exceed 21,000 million euros. Doha is Iberdrola’s reference shareholder, with 8.69%. A presence that also claims the United Arab Emirates, headquarters of the sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, Cepsa’s reference shareholder -controls 61.5% of its capital- which broke into Enagás last year with a 3.103% stake. According to Foreign Affairs, the Emirati investment is the most important in the region in Spain with 6,000 million euros. The Emirates has been the main destination for Spanish exports in the Middle East since 2019. “The visit has been very positive. We have had the opportunity to present first-hand the main challenges that Spanish companies face in the country with the aim that measures can be taken to facilitate and promote the expansion of our activity”, recognizes THE WORLD Guillermo Cobelo, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Spain in the Emirates, where some 250 national companies operate.
To try to win the trust of investors, González Laya has not spared in praise of the local regimes although the trip has not, so far, achieved close specific investments beyond good words. In interviews with local media, the minister has praised, for example, the Vision 2030 plan designed by Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman to diversify the Saudi economy. “Saudi Arabia is in better shape today because it is reforming,” he declared. “He knows where he has to invest, in people’s capacities; that he needs to invest in infrastructures that will modernize the country and he wants to invest in tourism,” he stressed about a strategy that has raised doubts in the international community due to the aggressiveness of its creator, the heir who sent the kingdom to war in Yemen or has persecuted women activists at a time when the new US administration tries to reduce its support for the adventures of the Emiratis and Saudis.
On Emirati soil, where he assured have no intention of meeting the king emeritus, González Laya confessed that “through the Covid-19 we learned that we were great friends.” “We help each other a lot. We work day and night to repatriate our citizens. Many of those who were in the Far East came to Spain through the Gulf, particularly making a stopover in the Emirates,” he stressed. According to the global democracy index, which the minister cited a few days ago to defend that Spain is one of the 23 full democracies on the planet, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Qatar are on the other side of the scale as autocracies. They rank 156, 145 and 126 respectively out of the 167 countries analyzed. “Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the world and Spain has a great Arabic heritage. They are the two great pillars from which we want to build,” González Laya repeated in Doha.
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