Qatari investors have been active in Belgium, particularly in Wallonia, for around thirty years, from real estate to chocolate, via football and finance.
Sultan ben Jassem Al Thani, a member of the family of Hamad ben Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar until 2013, is the main shareholder of the Liège chocolate factory Galler, with 70% of the voting rights.
The former Qatari Prime Minister, Hamad ben Jassem Al Thani acquired in 2012, through the Luxembourg company Precision Capital, Kredietbank Luxembourg European Private Bankers, which owns Puilaetco Dewaay Private Bankers in Belgium. Precision Capital also acquired nearly 90% of Dexia Banque Internationale à Luxembourg, which opened an establishment in Belgium in 2013. The Belgian activities of Dexia Banque Internationale will be acquired in 2015 by Puilaetco Dewaay Private Bankers.
In 2020, Puilaetco Deeway Private Bankers merged with its Luxembourg parent company to form Quintet Private Bank. Qatari interests in Belgium in finance are thus sliding towards Luxembourg, but the group, which has become one of the European giants in private banking, retains seven establishments in Belgium.
In 2010, the powerful sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), financial arm of the State of Qatar, created Qatar Airways, to manage its cargo activities at Liège and Zaventem airports. This airline is still active today.
In addition, it is a public institution of Qatar which, via two companies, one Luxembourg and the other Belgian, took control in 2012 of the Eupen football club, then close to bankruptcy. In a few years, AS Eupen found itself in the first division where it is still playing this season.
“There remains a series of limited and rather heterogeneous investments, but which are far from without significance”, notes David Van Den Abeel, the author of the study. “And the possession, even temporary, of a Belgian private bank remains an event to which attention should be paid”.