East Cambridgeshire District Council will no longer look to Saudi Arabia for investment opportunities, it was decided this week.
Liberal Democrat councillor, Lorna Dupre put forward a proposal a proposal last Thursday to remove the oil-rich Arab state from the council’s list of approved countries for investment.
The proposal was backed unanimously at last Thursday’s meeting of the corporate governance and finance committee.
Councillor Dupré, who represents Sutton, said: “A régime that executes its own citizens, and those of other countries, brutally and in public; inflicts barbarous punishments on people simply for expressing their views; and routinely represses women, is not one we ought to be having any truck with.”
According to the district council’s investment policy, there are only 18 countries that officers are allowed to invest money in.
Among those are Abu Dhabi, Qatar, both of which have an AA credit rating, and Finland, which has an AA+ rating. The top rating is AAA, held by countries likes Australia, Germany and Sweden.
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