Berlin - The head of Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) warned in a news interview released Saturday against German plans to restrict acquisitions by sovereign investment funds like his. Sheikh Badir al-Saad told Der Spiegel magazine, "At the moment we are happy to invest in Germany. But in the future, any regulation of sovereign investors could reduce our commitment to your country."
He was speaking before a meeting this week with German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck on Berlin's plans.
The KIA invests the revenues from Kuwait's oil exports.
Saad said plans to limit sovereign-investor ownership of key industries "punish us for something we have not done."
He said state funds like his had never caused any world financial crises, whereas hedge funds and speculators had done so.
The KIA had been investing in Germany for 45 years, yet within a year and a half had come to face a serious setback in its relationship with Germany. "Now we feel unwelcome," he told the interviewer.
