According to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper, a recently publicized report reveals a major withdrawal in Arab Gulf investments in the commercial real estate assets in the United Kingdom.
A large number of Gulf investors preferred to keep their investments into the booming real estate and securities markets in the Arabian Gulf States rather than in the UK's commercial real estate market, according to the "Trowers & Hamlins," legal consulting and international investments association. The same source added that Gulf investors had pumped GBP 460 million ($835 million) into real estate purchases in the UK in 2004 compared with GBP 920 million ($1.67 billion) in the previous year. Gulf investors lost confidence in U.S. and UK equities but still looked to keep a lot of their money abroad. "With Gulf economies developing rapidly and with domestic land and equity values at an all-time high, money is now being invested in the Gulf and generating high returns," reported Trowers & Hamlins.
