KUWAIT (Bloomberg) — Kuwait Projects Co., an investment company with assets of about $18 billion, plans to start a $1 billion buyout fund and an Islamic reinsurer to tap economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa.Kuwait Projects, known as KIPCO, is in talks with one European and two US “Wall Street” partners about starting a private equity fund to buy regional companies. The Islamic reinsurance company will start operations next year with capital of between $500 million and $1 billion.

The global market for Islamic insurance may surge fivefold to $14 billion by 2015, according to HSBC Holdings Plc.