Foreign sovereign wealth funds look to Dubai bond

Dubai has received interest from sovereign wealth funds 'beyond the region' for the second tranche of the $20 billion bond it expects to launch this year, the emirate's finance chief said on Friday.

'Immediately after the issuance of the first tranche, we did receive interest from entities beyond the borders of the UAE. Our only issue is that... we will not issue the second tranche until it is needed,' Nasser al-Sheikh told Reuters Financial Television on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum at the Dead Sea in Jordan.

'We are in talks with some sovereign wealth funds and some financial institutions who have expressed their interest... We have continuous dialogue with a number of them... beyond the region.'