Gulf funds pump $13bn into property by Ben Flanagan on Thursday, 12 April 2007 Early evening shot of South Africa's V&A Waterfront with Table Mountain silhouetted in the background (from www.waterfront.co.za). Dubai World's Istithmar was part of a consortium that last year clinched a $1bn deal for the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront Company. Gulf Arab countries invested $13bn in global real estate in 2006, up 14% on the year before, according to research by Jones Lang LaSalle. The figure equates to roughly 5% of the region's petrodollar-inflated current account surpluses. Over half of this $13bn was invested in the US, followed by the UK ($4bn), Germany ($1bn) and South Africa ($1bn). Major investments were also made in France and Sweden.