PARIS, March 5 (Xinhua) -- French Minister for Economy, Finance and Employment Christine Lagarde has authorized an economist to conduct a research and assessment on Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs)in France for the government's strategy towards the SWFs, announced the ministry on Wednesday.

    France, a country which is open to international investment of all kinds, recognizes the SWFs' significant role in channeling capital for a country's financial market, said the ministry.

    In order to clarify the role of the SWFs in the changing financial market and to make suggestions for the government's related strategy towards the SWFs, Lagarde has authorized Alain Demarolle, an economic consultant for former Prime Minister Dominique Galouzeau de Villepin, to conduct a research and assessment.

    Demarolle is expected to present an initial report to Lagarde on April 1 and a final one on May 1, said the ministry.

    The SWFs are pools of money derived from a country's foreign reserves, which are set aside for investment purposes to benefit the country's economy and citizens.

    Currently 36 countries or regions have their SWFs, with some 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars of assets under their management, bigger than the sums invested in hedge funds and private equity funds, according to a report by the Standard Chartered.

    The SWFs, owned by sovereign entities in countries such as Singapore, Russia, Norway, Japan and China, have contributed significantly to the world economy.

    In the past few months, the SWFs have injected about 29 billion dollars to help prop up the balance sheets of troubled banks, such as a 10-billion-dollar investment in the UBS by the Singapore Investment Corporation, a 7.5-billion-dollar investment in Citigroup by the Abu Dhai Authority, a stake of up to 5 billion dollars in Merrill Lynch by Singapore's Temasek and a stake of 5 billion dollars in Morgan Stanley by the newly-founded China Investment Corporation.