Norway’s biggest pension fund boycotts Gulf companies over Middle East fears

Michael Bow
Thu, 28 December 2023 

UAE

Norway’s largest pension fund will boycott 12 companies in the Gulf region over alleged human rights abuses, including creeping state surveillance and poor treatment of migrant workers.

KLP, which manages $100bn (£78bn) of assets and owns stakes in UK companies, said it will stop investing in the firms over fears it will fuel problems in the Middle East.

Eleven of the 12 are telecom or construction companies based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.


The world’s largest oil company Saudi Aramco, which is 90pc owned by the Saudi state, is on the list over fears authorities exert too much control over the business.

KLP said investments in these firms posed “an unacceptable, sector-specific risk of contributing to human rights abuses”.

The telecom sector was targeted because KLP said it allowed governments to spy on their citizens.

The construction sector was also a risk due to the treatment of migrant workers, which was a widespread issue in the build-up to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Among those blacklisted include Emirates Telecom Group, Emaar Properties and Aldar Properties in the UAE, Mobile Telecommunications and Mabanee in Kuwait and Barwa Real Estate and Ooredoo in Qatar.

Ties will also be cut with Saidi Arabia’s Aramco, Saudi Telecom, Etihad Etisalat, Dar Al Arkan Real Estate and Mobile Telecommunications.

Kiran Aziz, head of responsible investments at KLP, said the fund had published its assessment to prompt debate about human rights.

Ms Aziz said the difference between its approach and the policy of some UK investment funds was “how reluctant people are in terms of talking about this publicly”.

She said the fund had spent four years researching the issue and met with the Saudi stock exchange and several companies before publishing its decision.

Ms Aziz said: “We could have just put these companies on the list without giving an assessment but you would lose the value of what we’re trying to achieve. We want to debate our exclusions and we want the companies to understand where we draw the line and other stakeholders as well.

“There are a lot of good companies in Gulf states and we have seen it has had quite good development on corporate governance but at the same time, with migrant workers and breach of labour rights, it’s such a core issue for this region that it’s difficult to justify it from our point of view.”

Only one of the companies blacklisted, which is based in the telecom sector, had raised concerns with KLP, Ms Aziz said.