 Catalysts of change: the role of strategic sovereign wealth funds in the structural transformation of the GCC economiesDuncan Mayall Chapter 4 in Economic Challenges in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries, 2026, pp 67-89 from Edward Elgar Publishing Abstract: Strategic sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are playing an increasingly important role within the economic development plans of governments in many countries around the world, including in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). However, there is relatively little credible analysis to date of the specific mandates of these funds, how they measure their broader economic impact (if at all) and the role they are playing in the broader context of economic policymaking. This chapter aims to begin to address the current gap by looking at the strategic SWFs in the GCC and seeking to ascertain what these funds have set as their economic development objectives. In terms of their mandates, it finds that strategic SWFs in the Gulf have a particular focus on development of key non-oil industries and catalysing foreign direct investment (FDI). It also finds that strategic SWFs in the region place a particular emphasis on measuring job creation within their portfolio and measuring GDP contribution and hypothesises that this may reflect the priorities of their key audiences, in particular the domestic public. Keywords: Gulf Co-operation Council; Sovereign Wealth Funds; Sovereign Investment Funds; Economic Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:24437_4 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing |
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