Bossano outlines investment potential after JTA agreement 

The Minister for Inward Investment and the Gibraltar Savings Bank, Sir Joe Bossano, has said a non-binding agreement with Qatar-based JTA Investment Holding forms part of efforts to bring international partners into financing private-sector projects in Gibraltar, but there has been no further feedback from the company since he signed it late August. 

Answering questions in Parliament from the Leader of the Opposition, Keith Azopardi, Sir Joe said he was discussing the same concept with three other potential partners. 

The aim was to share the Savings Bank’s funding commitments, reduce its exposure and secure access to a larger pool of long-term development money. 

But he stressed that the discussions remained at an early stage and offered no guarantee that any of the four potential partners would proceed. 

“Since I signed the non-binding MoU, there has not been any further feedback from JTA Investments,” Sir Joe said. 

Mr Azopardi asked how the Government had formalised its collaboration with JTA Investment Holding or its founder Dr Amir Ali Salemi Sadeh, and sought details of the memorandum’s scope and what investors would receive. 

Sir Joe said the proposed partnerships would concern the types of private-sector projects already financed by the Savings Bank, rather than government projects. 

An outside investor could replace part of the bank’s existing funding or join it in financing a future project from the outset, Parliament heard. 

Sir Joe illustrated this with a project receiving £8m from the Savings Bank. A partner could provide half that amount, allowing the bank to reduce its commitment while the project’s overall financing remained unchanged. 

The incoming investor would receive the return previously earned by the bank on that portion of funding, freeing Savings Bank resources for other investments. 

Sir Joe said the timing would depend on investors’ appetite and whether they wanted to enter existing projects or wait for new opportunities, adding the discussions were “not identifying specifically what they're going to be investing in”. 

He said international investors looking for long-term infrastructure investments could provide funding beyond the capacity of local banks, whose participation in individual projects was constrained by regulatory limits. 

Local banks and the Savings Bank also drew largely on the same pool of Gibraltar residents’ money, whereas the proposed partnerships would bring additional funds from outside the Rock. 

Mr Azopardi said he understood the rationale for increasing the available development funding but repeatedly sought clarity on whether an investor would receive only a financing return or also a stake in the project itself. 

He used the example of a reclamation project to ask whether a partner could acquire land through the arrangement. 

“So what I'm asking him again, please, can he confirm that the financing deal is separate and does not involve that they would then get a stake in any land that would be created as a result of the financing deal?” Mr Azopardi said. 

Sir Joe said an investor replacing Savings Bank funding would participate on the same terms as the bank, with the returns and risks shared. 

“From the point of view of the very limited risk, because nothing is risk-free,” he said, sharing the financing would also share the exposure. 

He added that participating investors could separately pursue other business opportunities in Gibraltar, including developments with other parties, but those would fall outside their partnership with the Savings Bank. 

Responding to the questions about land, Sir Joe said: “But this is not about selling land to anybody outside.” 

He said the uses of the reclamation already under way had been identified, namely 50/50 housing and accommodation for elderly people. 

Sir Joe also outlined a longer-term possibility of Gibraltar becoming a financing hub for investments in the UK if the partnerships generated more capital than could be absorbed locally. 

He gave a hypothetical example in which four partners each matched the £500 million the Savings Bank has from its economic development debentures, creating a £2.5 billion investment pool. 

Mr Azopardi questioned why the Government or Savings Bank would want to pursue infrastructure projects outside Gibraltar. 

Sir Joe said UK investment was a possible consequence of successfully building a larger financing structure, rather than something he had specifically attributed to the JTA arrangement. 

He argued that Gibraltar could expand its role as an international investment base, drawing on partners’ contacts and opportunities while providing funding at reasonable cost to local businesses. 

“And that would then create a new and very powerful industry in Gibraltar in providing finance,” he said, adding that other places like Lichenstein already employed this model. 

After repeated questions from Mr Azopardi about whether the four prospective partners were linked, Sir Joe confirmed they had approached him independently. He did not name the other three. 

“The four are not connected and, you know, look, none of the four may deliver,” Sir Joe said. 

“It's better to be talking to four, [because] then there's a better chance that at least one of them will come through.” 

JTA International Investment Holding says it provides “unique and innovative financing and investment solutions to businesses and iconic projects around the globe”. 

Its subsidiaries are involved in different sectors including energy, civil engineering, innovation and technology, tourism, transportation, health and agriculture.