Qatar and Oman Champion Middle East Financing to Drive Infrastructure Growth in the Global South

Officials from Qatar and Oman are actively promoting Middle East-backed financing, with a strong emphasis on Islamic instruments, to bolster essential infrastructure projects throughout the Global South. Speaking at the Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong on Thursday, Mansoor Al Khater, chief executive of the Qatar Financial Centre, noted that utilizing Shariah-compliant financial instruments can help countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America successfully bridge funding gaps.

“Especially when we look at the [Global] South, what they are looking for is access to capital, and the Middle East can be one of the regions that can provide that capital because we are on a high balance sheet and we have good income statements,” Mr Al Khater stated. He added that the Middle East's capacity to act as a regional hub enables it to effectively bridge relationships with the South.

While acknowledging that Islamic financing remains less common than traditional banking instruments, Mr Al Khater emphasized its ideal nature for mobilizing fresh capital as a complementary vehicle alongside conventional financing models. Data from the recent ICD-LSEG Islamic Finance Development Report highlights the industry's continued global momentum, showing a 21 per cent year-on-year growth to reach $5.98 trillion in 2025, with Saudi Arabia leading as the world's biggest issuer of sukuk.

Although the exact volume of Islamic financing currently deployed in Belt and Road projects remains unspecified, Muneer Al Muneeri, deputy president for operations at the Oman Investment Authority, emphasized its potential to nurture long-term partnerships in emerging markets. Pointing to the Oman Investment Authority's role in helping jump-start private equity investors in Uzbekistan and managing investments in over 20 funds, Mr Al Muneeri concluded that such initiatives successfully connect different parts of the world and source the right technologies and transactions.