Gulf wealth funds ‘genuinely interested’ in Irish renewable projects
Sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf have a “genuine interest” about investing in renewable energy projects and other sectors in Ireland, the country’s Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has said.
“So we are looking to develop and encourage that,” Simon Coveney, told The National at the World Trade Organisation’s ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi last week.
The minister’s comments come after he visited the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait where he met potential investors.
“There is genuine interest and a real curiosity about the level of capital investment in Ireland and an interest in potentially partnering with Irish investment funds,” Mr Coveney said.
Ireland has a “very ambitious” economic development plan over the next 25 years that features decarbonisation, digitalisation and the diversification of companies and talent in the country, he said.
The country aims to install up to 37 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2050, representing a capital investment of €100 billion ($108 billion).
The wind power project is a “real opportunity for some of the investment funds in this part of the world to be diversifying their energy portfolios into renewable energy of the coast of Ireland,” Mr Coveney said.
“There are big opportunities for investment from this region in Ireland and Europe.”
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund was the top investor among global sovereign wealth funds last year as the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund continues to improve its investment portfolio, industry specialist Global SWF said in its annual report in January. The PIF spent $31.6 billion in 49 deals in 2023, up 33 per cent from 2022.
Together with the PIF, four other Gulf funds ranked among the top 10 most active deal makers last year – Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Mubadala Investment Company, ADQ and Qatar Investment Authority, the report said.
Mr Coveney, who is a former foreign minister, also highlighted opportunities for Irish companies to participate in the large-scale infrastructure projects in the Arab world’s top two economies – Saudi Arabia and the UAE. “We’d like to build on the opportunities in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. We think [they are] very significant in terms of the scale of projects that are being designed and delivered and Irish companies can be a big part of that,” he said.
The value of Irish exports to the UAE reached €643.8 million in 2022, up from €504.6 million in 2021, according to data from Ireland’s embassy. Over the past decade, Irish goods exports to the Arab world have increased by 68 per cent.
Ireland’s economy is forecast to expand 3.3 per cent in 2024, while inflation is expected to further ease to 2 per cent by late 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund.
“Ireland’s economy has never been stronger, it has never been more resilient and we’ve never seen more foreign direct investment than we have today,” Mr Coveney said.
The country is home to about 2,000 multinational companies who employ more than 300,000 people.
Ireland’s trade with the rest of the world reached a total value of $1 trillion a year ago for the first time, Mr Coveney said. Ireland has been one of the most vocal EU countries on the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that he is talking to some of the EU’s 27 states about a possible joint recognition of a Palestinian state after Israel’s war in Gaza.
Asked if Ireland’s position on the war has affected its trading partners, Mr Coveney said: “Ireland’s trade relationship with other countries around the world has not been undermined”.
He said Ireland’s position is consistent, fair and based on evidence and law. “Any country that will hold that against Ireland is in my view not responding fairly. We will continue to condemn breaches of international law on all sides by the way.”