The Qatar Investment Authority and Canadian asset manager Fiera Capital have launched a $200 million fund to boost foreign and local investment into the Gulf state's stock market, QIA said on Wednesday.

The fund was announced just days after a major escalation in tensions in the Middle East after Iran on Monday fired missiles at a U.S. military base in Qatar in response to U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear sites.

The Fiera Qatar Equity Fund will be structured as a daily-dealing mutual fund, and QIA - the country's $500 billion sovereign wealth fund - will be its anchor investor, it said in a statement.

"Attracting overseas asset managers to invest in Qatar equity will fuel market participation and help to diversify and broaden the market," QIA Chief Executive Mohammed Saif Al-Sowaidi said.

Qatar is one of the world's biggest exporters of liquefied natural gas. Like other Gulf oil and gas exporters, it is trying to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons, and attract increased foreign investment.

While neighbours Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have experienced an IPO boom in recent years, market insiders have attributed the lack of Qatari deals to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the country's focus on the 2022 World Cup.

The tie-up with Toronto-listed Fiera Capital, which had $117 billion in assets as of March 31, is part of the QIA's broader initiative to establish partnerships with global asset managers who have a Gulf focus, as well as local asset managers.

They include Ashmore Group, which has launched a $200 million fund with the QIA and last month opened a Doha office.

Following this week's escalation, a ceasefire between Iran and Israel was announced by Washington.

(Reporting by Federico Maccioni; Editing by Rachna Uppal)