Nakheel, a leading Dubai-based developer, said it had been approached by Gulf sovereign wealth funds keen to invest in the region.

"What I do see is a lot of Gulf sovereign wealth funds are beginning to come and see Nakheel and I'm surprised why do they want to see us?" Kar Tung Quek, chief financial officer, told Reuters on the sidelines of a real estate conference in the Saudi capital.

"And I think the reason is simple: because for them they have a continuous inflow of funds from the national reserves.

"Going forward, they are thinking should we invest in this, should we buy more property in Dubai? They are beginning to do that study, which is great for us."    

Quek, who did not elaborate on which sovereign wealth funds had approached Dubai government-owned Nakheel, said oil-fuelled funds had previously looked first to investments in the United States, Europe and Australia.

"Now they are thinking maybe it's safe to keep the cash in the region." - Reuters