Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp) on Tuesday said its shareholders agreed to nearly triple the development bank's capital base to $1.5 billion, helping it move ahead with investment plans.

Apicorp is owned by the 10 member states of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), with the Saudi Arabian and the United Arab Emirates governments each holding 17 per cent.

At an extraordinary shareholders meeting in Cairo on Sunday, the general assembly resolved to increase subscribed capital to $1.5 billion from $550 million currently, the bank said in a statement. It also agreed to double authorised capital to $2.4 billion.

The paid-up capital was increased by converting $200 million of retained earnings into shares.

'The increased capital will contribute to our target of doubling our direct investment portfolio by the end of our current five year plan,' chief executive Ahmad Bin Hamad Al-Nuaimi said.

Apicorp, headquartered in Saudi Arabia, also said shareholders had waived receiving dividends for the third consecutive year to bolster the capital base.

The lender, which had assets of $4.3 billion at the end of 2010, expects to double its direct investment portfolio by the end of its 2010-2014 five year plan.

Apicorp issued a SR2 billion five-year bond in 2010. Its 2010 annual net profit rose 62 percent to $95 million.-Reuters