Qatar
Area: 4,460 square miles Capital: Doha Government: Traditional monarchy Population: 817,052 Language: Arabic (official), English GDP per capita: USD 21,500 Monetary unit: Qatari Rial (QAR) Imports: Food, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment Exports: Petroleum, steel, fertilizers
Yousef Bin Hussain Kamal, Minister of Finance
Over the past few years, Qatar has streamlined its economy through cutting the state budget, reducing the number of ministries, increasing oil production, promoting economic diversification and encouraging foreign investment.
These efforts have resulted in a thriving business sector with outstanding investment appeal and a GDP of USD 17.8 million, almost double what it was only six years ago. According to Yousef Bin Hussain Kamal, Minister of Finance, Qatar has been focusing on encouraging investment in infrastructure related to the oil and energy sectors rather than on the oil sector alone. A prominent business leader who is also Chairman of Qatar National Bank, Rasgas and Qatar Steel Company, Kamal says, “Our rate of growth has been almost 7 percent for the last seven years.”
Kamal says that Qatar aims to attract internationally known companies with know-how, proven market presence, sound finances and the ability to deliver on their promises.
“We offer a good business climate for any investor and we consider the whole State of Qatar as a free zone.”
