India becomes preferential target of investors from Middle East - United States remains traditionally valued. - According to a KPMG study entitled “KPMG's Middle East Capital Flows Survey 2008”, large companies based in the Middle East and North Africa target India in the medium term as the priority destination for their investment. The consulting firm carried out a survey among 50 senior corporate investment strategists based in seven countries of the region in order to draw up a panorama of their short (2008/2009) and medium term (2013/2014) investment intentions. According to the results, they intend to invest in neighbouring countries in coming months. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) leads the table with 26% of respondents saying they plan to make an investment there. Next comes India, with 22% of respondents saying they were planning to invest, placing it alongside Qatar. Equal fourth are China, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, with 14%. Looking ahead to 2013/14, the proportion of companies planning to invest in India jumps to 34%. This makes India the leader by far for future investments, with substantially more support than the second most popular country, the UAE. Investment by Middle East companies in India should jump a further 8% within the next five years, KPMG says. Investment in the manufacturing sector is more particularly valued, with 37% of investment intentions. China, which is the direct competitor of India, is the third country given as a priority destination for investment from the Middle East, with 16%, i.e. 2% more investment by 2013/14. As for India, investment in the manufacturing sector is most sought after with 26% but the services sector is also beginning to attract investment. Unlike investors from other regions of the world, which plan to decrease their investment in the United States to the advantage of Europe and the emerging economies, investors in the Middle East are not really interested in Europe, except for the United Kingdom which receives 8% of investment intentions. Investors from Saudi Arabia are, within the region, most inclined to invest abroad, KPMG states. In a near future, the UAE is their preferred destination, followed by India and China, but, in the next five years they will target countries outside the region more. India becomes head of list followed by the United States and China. Although the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar remain the favourite destinations for Saudi Arabian investment, Saudi Arabia is now showing interest in the United Kingdom, Russia, Brazil, Canada and Vietnam. As far as the preferences of Kuwaiti investors are concerned, Qatar and the UAE this year share the top position for the year to come whereas Europe is emerging among future priorities. In five years' time, 40% of Kuwaiti investors will be choosing India as their preferred investment destination, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Saudi Arabia (30%), China, Bahrain and Qatar (20%). (I.L./transl.jl)