By Federico Maccioni
DUBAI (Reuters) - Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani said on Friday he expects more investments from the oil-rich Gulf into the U.S. as President-elect Donald J. Trump's second term in office heralds a "pro-business" climate.
The real estate tycoon and longtime business partner of Trump this week announced at the president-elect's Florida Mar-a-Lago resort that he planned to invest $20 billion in data centres in eight U.S. states over the coming years.
Sajwani, whose Dubai-based DAMAC Properties real estate firm owns the only Trump-branded golf course in the Middle East, made the announcement alongside Trump, who gave a commitment to expedite regulatory processes for such big-ticket investments.
"I think his overall policies are pro-business," Sajwani told Reuters at his home on Dubai's Palm Jumeirah island.
Those policies would encourage others to invest in the U.S. in coming years, he said, adding that there were significant opportunities in artificial intelligence and other technology.
Sajwani, who made much of his wealth building residential neighbourhoods and apartment towers in Dubai, is an investor in Elon Musk's SpaceX and artificial intelligence company xAI.
The Emirati magnate celebrated New Year's with Trump and Musk and other guests at Mar-a-Lago resort and said he had been invited to attend the inauguration in Washington on Jan. 20.
Forbes estimates Sajwani's net worth at $5.1 billion.
Trump and his family have business ties to the Gulf beyond the longstanding partnership with Sajwani. Trump-branded real estate projects are being built under partnership deals in Saudi Arabia and Oman, while Gulf state-owned funds are investors in an investment firm owned by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Gulf sovereign wealth funds are also big U.S. investors.
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Sajwani's investment in data centres is being made by DAMAC subsidiary EDGNEX, which is operating and building data centres in the Middle East, Asia and Europe.
EDGNEX plans to build and own data centres with an overall capacity of 2,000 megawatts over the next four years in Texas, Arizona, Illinois and five other Sunbelt and Midwest states.
Sajwani cited access to land, energy and "more business-friendly approvals" as why the centres would be built there and said that most of the investment would be funded through debt.
DAMAC, which plans to fund 60%-70% of the investments through debt, is working with global banks and will offer the data centres under construction as collateral.
The remaining 30% will come from DAMAC Properties' balance sheet, banking on the funds the company has been receiving as it delivers real estate projects launched years ago.
"So the company's balance sheet is strong enough to fund the coming four years. And of course, all these things have been studied carefully and a very detailed business plan has been done," he said.
The deal is likely to come under scrutiny by the Committee of Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a panel that reviews foreign investments for national security concerns.
Some Gulf officials privately complain about the lengthy time it takes for the interagency panel to review such deals.
Sajwani said the deal would go through "the normal process" but that he anticipates the incoming administration would "ease up" regulatory processes and "make it a bit faster".
"We know from the overall policy of the government, (it is) going to be more encouraging to foreign investment."
($1 = 3.6727 UAE dirham)