Is Qatar investment going off the boil?

THE chances of Qatar investing in a luxury hotel project on state-owned land opposite the Nicosia Hilton now seem to be less firm than has been suggested previously, amid rumours of different investment priorities on the Qatari side, and even a lack of enough cash to go round.

There are plenty of prospective investments by the Qataris being talked about elsewhere as well as in Cyprus: these include Greece, Turkey and a potential purchase of 20 per cent of Volkswagen from Porsche in Germany. What is certain is that there is a long line of suitors waiting for the Qataris to call – but for now, firm deals are thin on the ground.

Speaking to the press on 26 June, Commerce Minister Antonis Paschalides said that the visit by Qatari technocrats to finalise the deal – which was expected to take place last month – had been postponed at the other side’s request. Ministry sources later indicated that the visit should now take place in the second half of July.

Paschalides said at the time that discussion and negotiations on the possible investment would continue during the visit, emphasising that “this does not mean that as soon as the technocrats arrive we will be signing agreements”, adding that “if the result of the negotiation is acceptable to both sides, then we’ll move forward.”

Back in May, Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis had already sounded a note of caution to the House Finance Committee, saying that negotiations were continuing, and “if we decide that the proposed agreement is not in the public interest, then we shall not proceed”.

At that time, Stavrakis suggested that public criticism by politicians was harming the prospects of a deal being reached. There is no guarantee that the disagreements – voiced especially by opposition party DISY – over the provision of state-owned land by the government will be overcome in a manner that would be satisfactory to the potential investors.

Meanwhile, as word is eagerly awaited in Nicosia regarding incoming investment, the Cypriot firm Aqua Masters – which specialises in building swimming pools and has maintained a branch in Qatar for some 15 years – is reported to have signed a contract on 27 June to participate in a new hotel and water-park project in Qatar.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.