At the moment, out of $500 million we have invested in the Middle East, some $270 million is in Saudi Arabia.

invested in Saudi sectors such as food, banking and logistics, but does not rule out extending to other sectors as long as they meet Templeton’s basic requirement of delivering “dynamic growth potential in the world’s fastest growing economies.”

But, he added, “inclusion in the indices is crucial.” The vast majority of global investment flows are via exchange traded funds (ETFs) which follow recognized indices like the MSCI.

There has been a debate on the international investment scene on whether the emerging markets (EM) are still the best investment options, given improving growth in developed markets like the US and Europe. But Mobius has no doubt. six years, so there is still some way to go. EMs are still more favorable than US markets, and if you take out the EM elements of American markets — like Alibaba — the comparative performance is even better,” he said.

When Mobius first got into the emerging markets business in 1987, it was a very different world. “Back then it was imagined as a low-income investment category, like Greece and Portugal for example. Then these countries began to improve their investibility, by making their forex and stock markets more efficient.

“Now the phrase ‘emerging’ isn’t really appropriate any more. We have come to conclude that we have to redefine it as a highgrowth or potentially high-growth