Libya’s $70bn sovereign wealth fund is on the lookout for investments in western real estate markets, as Muammer Gaddafi’s regime flexes its financial muscle after emerging from its international isolation.

Unlike many Middle Eastern funds, which are sitting on substantial losses, the Libya Investment Authority was set up only in 2007 and is scouring the globe for opportunities in the downturn.

In an interview with the Financial Times in Tripoli, Mohamed Layas, the LIA’s chief executive officer, said that after buying, through an affiliate, an office block in London, the fund was looking for more investments in property.

'The strategy is that we have to increase our investment in real estate, mainly in commercial buildings, and to invest in portfolios where they concentrate mainly on real estate in different parts of the world, in Europe and the US,' he said.

'We received many offers that are under consideration.'

Financial Times