Key quotes from Middle East Summit

DUBAI (Reuters) - The following are notable quotes from the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit which runs November 3-5 in Dubai and Kuwait.

MARKUS GIEBEL, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, DEYAAR

"I think right now it's a very much more targeted approach. Before you had a shotgun...people shoot and whether it's hotels, residentials or offices everything bears the fruits. These times have now gone. We have to go back to basics."

GHAITH AL-GHAITH, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, FLYDUBAI

"We haven't really seen the light as far as open skies is concerned, but we believe the tide is changing, there will be more openings as far as the air politics is concerned."

NASER AL-MARRI, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN AND MANAGING DIRECTOR OF NOOR FINANCIAL INVESTMENT CO:

"We are expecting a total deal size of $300 million in 2009, most of it would be equity. A year ago, they (the assets) would have cost $1 billion with difficulty in negotiation. (Now) it will cost $300 million with easy negotiation."

MANSOUR AL-MUBARAK, MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CEO, AAYAN CAPITAL

"There is no more room for small players. In a small market, where you are trying to deal with billion-dollar projects, there is no place for small fish. During a weak time, small players will vanish. You need to do something to continue."

MARWAN BOODAI, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, JAZEERA AIRWAYS

"Overall we are in the same global village. We can't say we are totally immune but as for the business model of Jazeera, we are more focused on the Middle East point-to-point. That is where we want to be in the future and the impact for us will be less."

SANJAY UPPAL CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, EMIRATES NBD:

"There is a need to create a regional debt market as we don't have one. We need the borrowers, investors and regulators to come together on this."

NASSER AL-SAIDI, CHIEF ECONOMIST, DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL Center:

"If you want to resolve global imbalances you need to bring (Gulf Cooperation Council) to the table. That does not mean asking them for more IMF contributions. It means giving them more voice. It is totally incongruous to think you can keep the Bretton Woods organizations as they emerged after World War Two ... The world has changed.

RAMIN TAKIN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, ESSDAR CAPITAL:

These are difficult times for everyone in the financial industry. The large investment banks ... those have shown to be too fragile to withstand this event (financial crisis). I think there will be many entities like us (smaller players.)

RICHARD WEBSTER, HEAD OF INVESTMENT, BURGAN BANK:

"The infrastructure projects in Kuwait on the whole are a little bit less grandiose, they may be less consumer-oriented than other Gulf countries. I don't see any inhibition on power, water projects.

"I think where you've got projects that are consumer related and they are still really on the drawing board, that is where they may be delayed or canceled and that may not be a bad thing. Things which are not really well thought out in the next 12 months, it will be harder for them to start ground-breaking activities. A slowdown would probably bring some of these factors back into balance."

AHMAD ALZABIN, CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF AVIATION LEASE AND FINANCE CO (ALAFCO), KUWAIT:

"They are talking about a recession of three to five years, but we see that aviation stays in the downturn for the least period.

"Islamic banks now are the ones that are overflowing with liquidity because of peoples' perception. People walking through the street, they want to keep their money in Islamic sharia. The liquidity of Islamic institutions I think is overflowing, they are funding left, right and center now."

FRED SICRE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ABRAAJ CAPITAL, ON MIDEAST PRIVATE EQUITY:

"There is a certain amount of hyperbole within the industry."

YANN PAVIE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, GULFMERGER, KUWAIT:

"Mergers in the past were more difficult to do very often just because of egos. You don't have the luxury anymore for egos.

MOHAMMED ALI AL HASHIMI, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, ZABEEL INVESTMENTS:

"Let's face it every Tom, Dick and Harry became a developer. Now is the time when you differentiate the men from the boys.

"At times like these, it doesn't matter if you're in real estate or whatever sector, it becomes Darwinian. The strong will survive, weak ones will fall. The good developers will become better."

MOHAMMED ALI YASIN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, SHUAA SECURITIES:

"Sovereign wealth funds are in deeper trouble than we are locally. They got hit everywhere else in the world. If they had $800 billion before, they probably only have $400 billion now.

"A year ago, SWFs had to write a letter saying what are your investment intentions, your plans and now you have (the British trade secretary) saying SWFs are welcome.

"If there's something we've learned in all of this crisis: hypocrisy."

THOMAS LEAVER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DUBAI MERCANTILE EXCHANGE, ON THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS:

"I think it's going to be more painful than people think. We've got such demand destruction. People simply can't move the oil. Their demand growth is shrinking.

"How deep or how long, I don't know but we haven't even got to consumer credit yet.

"This will make 1929 look light."

"Don't delude yourself into thinking we're an island and won't be impacted by what's happening in the rest of the world."

MAJID JAFAR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CRESCENT PETROLEUM:

"I expect there to be more M&A transactions but for a while now there is a period of watching and waiting. The recent market activity has given everybody a shock."

GEORGE COOPER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, WATANIYA AIRWAYS:

"We've watched the gyrations of the oil prices with much trepidation."

"We are not establishing a hub airline here. We're not looking to carry people from Cairo and Dubai. The Kuwaitis in every aspect of their lives, except for maybe car parking, have a certain level of affluence."

(Compiled by Gulf bureaux; Editing by David Cowell and Hans Peters)