Zok said Gulf Arab investors have been willing to pay premiums for "trophy assets" in the west in order to get global exposure, but doing so has also cut into their returns.
Asian investments, he said, involve higher risks and higher rewards, he said, underpinning a trend among Gulf Arab companies to include Asia into billion-dollar spending sprees.
Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. TAQA.AD is eyeing Indian power generation and natural gas projects in a $6 billion spending spree this year, while Dubai-controlled hotels group Jumeirah expects Asia to contribute up to 40 percent of its revenues by 2011.
"I think our progress into India will wallop up over a number of years," said Tim Clark, president of Emirates airline which, like Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, is adding flights to Indian cities to meet growing demand.
REVERSE GLOBALISATION
Political risk concerns aside, Gulf Arab investors are not about to avoid the world's largest consumer market.
Global Investment House (GLOB.KW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will push ahead with plans to buy a New York-based asset manager in order to tap U.S. wealth, executive vice-president of the Kuwait-based investment bank Bader al-Sumait said.
"Definitely it is not a ports issue when it comes to asset management," Sumait said.
Dubai's Damac Properties is also eyeing U.S. real estate acquisitions, following the lead of Emaar Properties EMAR.DU, the largest Arab property developer by market value, which bought U.S. John Laing Homes last year.
"You will see more acquisitions," said the DIFC's Shaali.
"Reverse globalization - when you have emerging market players going out and acquiring developed institutions - is a tide that no matter how you try to swing against it, will be very very prevalent in the years to come," he said.
© Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.
| India Investment | Nov 23 - 25, 2009 | Country Summits |
| Global Finance | Nov 16 - 19, 2009 | Financial Services / Exchanges |
| Health | Nov 09 - 12, 2009 | Health |
| Autos | Nov 02 - 4, 2009 | Autos |
| Middle East Investment | Oct 26 - 28, 2009 | Country Summits |
