You'd think that there would be healthy interest in a fund that proposes to invest in Gulf infrastructure, given its importance as the foundation for the region's ambitious development plans. And there is - sort of. Today, a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi Investment Company and UBS announced that its MENA infrastructure fund had secured commitments of "up to" $250m (I'm assuming some of those commitments are contingent). But it also said it was looking to raise another $350m, bringing its total to $600m. That's a sizable funding gap to fill.

The fund plans to invest its cash in the next three to five years. I'm not entirely clear on what they're going to do with it, although from the press release it appears they're looking at making deals with governments to build infrastructure projects on previously undeveloped land: "Most of the fund's investments will be in 'greenfield' assets but because we are talking about primarily government concessions or long-term contracts with solid partners, cash flows are predictable and the risks less than in pure private sector deals," Vincent Gilles, the CIO of the JV, said in the release.