This morning, Sunday, the ninth edition of the Global Investment Forum launched in Doha to discuss the future of investment, transformations, and opportunities facing countries worldwide.
More than 5,000 participants and 20 ministers from various countries are taking part in the forum, organized by the United Nations in partnership with the State of Qatar.
Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ahmed bin Mohammed al-Sayed, stated that the growth of trade and investment "requires an international environment based on trust, stability, and cooperation, and clear, predictable rules."
He called for more dialogue and cooperation, not more isolation and division in a world with increasing uncertainty and economic division.
The Qatari minister added that his country recently announced a package of infrastructure-related projects with a total value of nearly $38.5 billion over the next five years, alongside expected private sector investments of about $22 billion in the real estate and hospitality sectors.
According to the minister, these figures not only reflect the volume of investments but also present "real opportunities for investors and companies to build long-term investments."
He said that Doha aspires to solidify its position "as a platform from which investments and partnerships launch into global and regional markets; Qatar is not just an investment destination, but an international investor and partner committed to building long-term partnerships."
Bridging the Investment Gap
For his part, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for seizing the opportunity presented by the Global Investment Forum to bridge the investment gap between developed and developing countries in attracting capital to emerging vital sectors represented in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, energy, advanced technologies, and rare minerals.
Guterres - in a speech delivered on his behalf by Nan Li Collins, Director of Investment and Projects at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development - stated that emerging vital sectors account for about half of new global investments (total global investment in 2025 is approximately $1.6 trillion), and these sectors are expected to reshape economies and global production.
The UN Secretary-General warned that only a small portion of these investments reaches the least developed countries and other low-middle income countries.
In turn, Pedro Manuel Moreno, Acting Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), considered that the available investment opportunities in the world are not evenly distributed; "building a semiconductor facility or an artificial intelligence data center requires capital, talent, energy, and institutions that many countries are still in the process of constructing and developing."
Moreno added - during his speech at the opening of the forum - that the least developed economies and those with low-middle income receive only 10% of investments in new strategic sectors.
According to the UN official, the role of multilateral forums in the past was largely limited to removing obstacles and lowering barriers, leaving capital to find its way on its own; however, the role of such forums today is entirely different, as it "involves helping countries build their own strategies, enhancing institutions and skills that make investment productive, and finding partners to advance those strategies."
Rebecca Grynspan, former Secretary-General of UNCTAD and candidate for the position of UN Secretary-General, described the world today as full of contradictions, as it "generates record levels of investment alongside record levels of distrust," adding that "the capital expenditure boom coincides with increasing and multiplying risks, and that the future has never appeared as ambiguous and uncertain as it is now."
Grynspan cited Qatar's launch of a $20 billion partnership to become a center for artificial intelligence in the Middle East.
It is noteworthy that participants in the Global Investment Forum are discussing in 108 sessions and dialogues the most prominent transformations and issues reshaping the future of global investment, under 8 thematic tracks: investment in artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship and small and medium enterprises, investment policies, sustainable finance and business, tourism and culture, climate and environment, along with promoting investment and special economic zones.