Country Profile:
Qatar
Qatar
As Qatar approaches its 40th year as an independent country, the peninsula once known primarily for pearl fishing has become a rising force in the global economic, diplomatic and cultural circles. Like many countries in the region, Qatar has enjoyed hydrocarbon-fuelled budget surpluses for years; however, it has taken a unique approach to spending its accumulated wealth. Ambitious cultural institutions have sprung up alongside the usual real estate mega projects and malls, giving credence to Doha’s title as “Arab Capital of Culture” in 2010. While petroleum and gas exports are the undeniable foundation of the economy, the stable and forward-looking leadership of the country has taken steps to diversify by investing in education, industry and infrastructure.
ISBN: 1-902339252
ISSN (Online): 1758-7581
ISSN (Print): 1758-7573
TABLE OF CONTENTS
COUNTRY PROFILE
This section provides a quick overview of some facts about the country, its population, natural resources, geography, climate, language, religion, culture and education system.
POLITICS
Qatar is a constitutional monarchy governed by the Al Thani family and ruled by Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who came to the throne in 1995. He is recognised as a pioneer in the region for advocating social, political and economic free will. Qatar is known for generous and cordial relations throughout the region and is noted for advocating the peaceful settlement of disputes between Middle Eastern states. Politically, the nation is managed by a Consultative Assembly of 45 members, 30 of whom are elected by a vote of the citizenry while 15 are appointed by the Emir. A new constitution was established in 2005 allowing the Consultative Assembly supreme authority. Since 2007, no elections have taken place, although they have been postponed several times. In 2009, Qatar hosted the Arab League Summit and assumed the rotating Chair of the Arab League. As with most Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, gender roles are relatively defined, with women generally having equal rights to men in that they are permitted to drive, attend schooling, vote, run for public office and are frequently employed within government institutions. The Emir’s wife, HH Sheikha Mozah, is a strong figurehead and chairs Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, which aims to provide specialised education for the development of future leaders and establish Qatar as a research centre. Diplomatic relations with Western countries have been strong for some time, with ongoing interests from foreign oil companies in operating in one of the largest gas reserves in the world.
This chapter includes a viewpoint by Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani; and interviews with HH Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Misned, Consort to the Emir, and Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
THE ECONOMY
Real GDP growth for 2009 was expected to come in at about 9%, well down on the preliminary estimate for 2008 of 13.5% but high enough to put Qatar among the world’s fastest-growing economies for the year – again. The growth was largely the result of effective planning that dates back two decades and is now ensuring that the economy will continue to expand. Confidence remains that the pace of growth will quicken in 2010 as new gas production comes on-stream and the government moves ahead with ambitious infrastructure development plans. The country remains overwhelmingly reliant on its hydrocarbons sector, so lower oil and gas prices in 2009 affected overall growth. The government is well aware of the risks associated with such strong dependence on hydrocarbons income that can fluctuate widely, and it has been implementing a two-track diversification strategy that involves investing state surpluses abroad to diversify Qatar’s income sources and developing a wide range of non-hydrocarbons sectors at home. The gas sector has taken over from oil as the largest contributor to GDP, but the government is also working to developing strengths in finance, education and scientific research, health care and tourism. The slower activity in 2009 had one major benefit, however, as the high inflation of the previous two years gave way to deflation, largely on the back of a decline in housing prices as new supply came to the market and the rate of population growth slowed. As the economy continues to pick up in 2010, a return to mild inflation is expected.
This chapter features interviews with Yousef Hussein Kamal, Minister of Economy and Finance; Khalid Al Attiyah, Minister of Business and Trade; Ibrahim Ibrahim, Secretary-General, General Secretariat for Development Planning; and Katsuya Okada, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs.
BANKING
By local standards, 2009 was a quiet year as the banks adjusted to a new economic climate in the wake of the global financial crisis. They were more cautious in their approach to lending and to provisioning, and this showed in combined profits of $2.7bn in 2009, just 0.1% down on the previous year’s result. Qatar’s banks received considerable help during late 2008 and in 2009, with the government stepping in three times to provide them with support. The sector also faced short-term repercussions from Dubai’s problems, though Qatar had minimal exposure to Dubai compared to many other entities in the region. On the whole, bankers are confident that investors have begun to look increasingly at Qatar as a stand-alone destination and assess it on its own merits. It is a view supported by the strong regional and international response to both sovereign and private sector bond issues during the year.
This chapter features an interview with Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud Al Thani, Governor, Qatar Central Bank, Sheikh Fahad bin Mohammad bin Jabor Al Thani, Chairman, Doha Bank; and Abdul Hakeem Mostafawi, CEO, HSBC Qatar.
CAPITAL MARKETS
The recent rebranding of the Doha Securities Market (DSM), now known as the Qatar Exchange (QE), is not a mere cosmetic adjustment, but the beginning of a transformative process aimed at turning it into a world-class institution capable of attracting more global investors and competing with its regional rivals. QE’s transformation was begun in June 2009 with the formation of a strategic partnership between the DSM and NYSE Euronext. Work has already begun on transitioning the QE to NYSE Euronext’s next-generation trading technology, which will make the QE the first exchange outside the NYSE Euronext system to use its universal trading platform (UTP) – already in use in the company’s European cash markets and being rolled out across all of its cash and derivatives markets globally. While the QE was affected by the credit crisis of late 2008 and 2009 – like every globally connected economy – it has emerged as one of the more stable markets in the region. Though the overall earnings of local companies declined by 13% year-on-year in the first nine months of 2009, the QE’s listed firms did not face as serious a challenge in terms of profitability as other nations in the region. In addition, the QE will receive an invaluable boost as Qatar emerges from the global economic crisis as a regional economic centre, with its long-term LNG contracts providing it with a degree of stability that oil-driven economies struggle to match. The growth of Qatar’s bourse, as well as the wider financial market, has placed considerable pressure on the country’s regulatory framework and the three main bodies that govern it: the Qatar Central Bank, the QFMA and the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority. Achieving meaningful regulatory reform will play a crucial part in attracting the institutional investors that left the market in 2008 and 2009 (largely to cover their positions in their more troubled home markets).
This chapter features a viewpoint from Ali Shareef Al Emadi, Group CEO, Qatar National Bank; and a round table discussion with Duncan Niederauer, CEO, NYSE Euronext, and Andre Went, CEO, Qatar Exchange.
ISLAMIC FINANCIAL SERIVES
As the conventional financial sector worked to cope with the fallout from the financial meltdown, expectations for Islamic financial services (IFS) in 2009 and 2010 were high. With the conventional sector battling to save its reputation, Islamic financial companies found themselves the focus of new attention. As the scale of the problems facing the conventional banking sector became clear, there were some suggestions that Islamic finance was virtually immune to the issues faced by conventional banks. However, at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2010, the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority’s (QFCRA) CEO, Philip Thorpe, took the opportunity to point out that underlying risks needed to be studied carefully to determine whether financing was conventional or sharia-compliant. In Qatar, banks offering Islamic services are overseen by the Qatar Central Bank and the QFCRA itself, which has developed a rulebook governing the activities of licensed companies providing Islamic financial services that allow for either wholly Islamic finance and Islamic banking institutions or Islamic windows. Between them the two organisations ensure the close supervision of the onshore Islamic banks, Islamic banks with QFC licences and QFCRA-licensed takaful (Islamic insurance) companies. The steady entry of new banks and takaful companies to the market should help to stimulate new competition, efficiency and growth in 2010 and beyond. This chapter features interviews with Salah Jaidah, CEO, Qatar Islamic Bank; and Abdulla bin Fahad bin Ghorab Al Marri, Chairman, Qatar First Investment Bank.
INSURANCE
Growth in insurance activity has been impressive and insurance companies saw a 153% increase in profits between 2005 and 2008, from $104m to $263m. Motor insurance has traditionally been the largest segment as it is compulsory, but other areas are growing in line with the rapid increase in investment in property, infrastructure and aviation. The potential of the insurance market across most of the GCC in general, and Qatar in particular, is evident when the states’ low penetration levels are compared with their high per capita GDPs, and insurance activity can be expected to continue its strong growth over the coming decades. Yet despite this optimism, the insurance sector could not escape the impact of wider economic changes in 2009, a year in which the insurance companies had to cope with slower growth and a more challenging investment environment, particularly in the Gulf.
This chapter features a viewpoint from James Sutherland, CEO, Qatarlyst.ENERGY
As the home of almost 15% of the world’s proven reserves of natural gas, Qatar has invested heavily in developing the infrastructure to ensure adequate domestic supply while enjoying a robust trade surplus. Gas is exported via pipelines in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG), a technology emerged some years ago to super-cool gas, thereby liquefying it, meant that the gas could be shipped in tankers. Heavy investment in LNG facilities has made Qatar the largest exporter of this valuable commodity, and is planning to double capacity in the coming years. Qatar is hardly alone in its expansion of LNG infrastructure. A raft of new LNG trains is expected around the world, with projects in Indonesia, Russia and Yemen, currently coming on-stream. As a result, the global LNG volume is expected to rise some 50% over the course of 2011 and 2012. LNG’s portion of global supply will reach 12%, up from 7% at present, experts say. Regardless of the competition, however, Qatar is positioned to ride out the storm due to its economies of scale. Qatar is hoping that high-cost producers will shut down enough wells to push prices back up. In the meantime, low prices might entice enough customers to switch over to natural gas, boosting demand in the long term.
This chapter features interviews with Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry; Faisal Al Suwaidi, Chairman and CEO, Qatargas; Mohammed Yousef Al Mulla, General Manager, Qatar Petrochemical Company; Alexander Dodds, General Manager, ExxonMobil Qatar; and Adel Ahmed Albuainain, General Manager, Dolphin Energy Qatar. There is also a viewpoint from Leonid Bokhanovskiy, Secretary-General, Gas Exporting Countries Forum.
TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS
As the economy has expanded in recent years, so have transport needs in the capital, Doha. With the rapid growth of the city, providing sufficient access has proved to be a challenge for the government. As Doha continues to expand, its existing transport infrastructure has begun to show signs of strain. To address this, the government has directed considerable resources towards meeting the nation’s future transport needs. The two bodies most closely involved in developing the nation’s transport infrastructure are the Urban Planning Department (UPD) and the Public Works Authority (Ashghal), which fall under the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning. In 2006 the UPD revealed a transport master plan in which Ashghal will play a major role as an implementer while the ministry will oversee the plan. The plan addresses the nation’s transport needs until 2025 and covers road, rail, maritime and air modes of transport. Its recommendations have resulted in the large number of infrastructural developments that can presently be seen throughout the country. In addition, Qatar is developing transport links with other countries in the region. To this end, construction is set to begin in 2010 on a causeway linking Qatar and Bahrain, and there has been notable progress on the proposed GCC rail link, with Qatar signing an agreement with Deutsch Bahn to develop the Qatari part of the project in late 2009.
This chapter features an interview with Akbar Al Baker, CEO, Qatar Airways.
REAL ESTATE
While the frenetic pace of construction has faded across the GCC region, the real estate market in Qatar had stabilised by mid 2009, and growth – albeit at a slower pace – is expected to continue. Some residential and commercial projects faced difficulties with their banks as credit markets tightened. But the vast majority of real estate deals were on solid footing, without much debt overhang, largely due to the fact that Qatar has steered away from outlandishly expensive real estate ventures in recent years and the fact that demand has remained high even as new supply enters the market. High-rise apartment buildings, clustered around the West Bay district, and large-scale mixed-use developments, such as The Pearl, are offering residents a plethora of new housing choices. Foreigners are able to buy land and property in three zones – The Pearl- Qatar, Al Khor and West Bay Lagoon. There are also 18 areas where foreigners can buy 99-year renewable leases. Demand has been high in the designated areas. In January 2009, for example, the units at Qanat Quartier, a precinct located in The Pearl, modelled on the city of Venice, sold out within one hour, netting $413m in sales. This has stoked concerns that the residential real estate market is to become oversupplied. It is difficult to predict where the equilibrium between supply and demand will settle, but the country’s economic growth should mean a steady influx of expatriates for years to come.
This chapter contains an interview with Issa M Al Mohannadi, CEO, Dohaland.
CONSTRUCTION
Qatar experienced a meaningful slowdown in the construction sector in 2009. That said, the country has seen only a mild contraction compared to some of its neighbours. The pace of construction in Qatar was modest during the boom, and a strong economy helped prevent the level of debt getting out of control. On the whole, the biggest impact was felt among projects financed by private companies, with government-sponsored projects continuing mostly unabated. Public revenue from exports of LNG, which is responsible for making Qatar the world’s richest country on a per capita basis, has supported high levels of spending. The face of the sector has changed to an extent in reaction to the credit crisis of 2008-09. In the past, the sector was driven by real estate mega-projects. With the growth in the public share of the market, more construction is taking place in infrastructure, health care and education. The number of public tenders saw a 30% year-to-date increase in October 2009. An average of about 1000 tenders for various public projects are awarded per year, including road, drainage and water projects and public buildings. The Public Works Authority (Ashgal) floats the tenders for civil projects, while the Central Tenders Committee (CTC) handles all other bids. Tenders for projects valued at less than QR100m ($27.5m) are awarded only to local contractors in an effort to develop expertise at Qatari firms, while foreign construction companies are eligible to bid for larger projects. This is not to say that private developments have stopped. Many major projects are under way, including the Pearl, a multibillion-dollar project on reclaimed land consisting of luxury villas, town houses and apartments, as well as five-star hotels, marinas, luxury stores and restaurants. A similar project is being developed nearby called Lusail, which is essentially a new city being built from scratch. There will be a significant amount of office space, in addition to retail and residential space. Lusail will be the home of Qatar Petroleum (QP) headquarters. It will also host Energy City, a district dedicated to oil and gas companies and other energy-related firms.
TELECOMS & IT
It has been an exciting year for the sector and a challenging one for the nation’s telecoms regulator, the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology in Qatar (ictQATAR). The issuance of a second mobile licence and the successful roll-out of Vodafone’s commercial services are the result of years of hard work by the sector regulator, and as the dust settles on what has been a fundamental shift in the mobile segment, ictQATAR is readying itself to oversee liberalisation of the wider telecoms sector. The recent burst of activity in the sector comes on the back of years of rapid growth that was part of a regional surge in subscribers. The six members of the GCC saw a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37.6% in mobile subscribers and 3.6% in fixed-line subscribers over the five years leading up to 2007, significantly higher than the global CAGR of 23.3% for the mobile market and 3.3% for fixed lines.
This chapter features interviews with Nasser Marafih, CEO, Qatar Telecom and Hessa Al Jaber, Secretary-General, ictQatar.
INDUSTRY
This chapter features interviews with Khalid Khalifa Al Thani, Director, Ras Laffan Industrial City; Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, Chairman, Al Faisal Holding and Aamal Company; Khalifa Al Sowaidi, Managing Director, Qatar Fertiliser Company; and Khalil Sholy, Managing Director and President, United Development Company
A global recession affected sales and profits, but the resilience shown by Qatar’s industrial sector recently has underscored its strengths. The sector enjoys a significant advantage in the form of low costs, which proved vital during much of 2009, when prices across all product lines were down. In early 2010, optimism returned to the market, with projected revenues at IQ revised upwards by more than 35%. The country is now a major producer of petrochemicals and fertilisers, and in 2010 has become a significant aluminium manufacturer following the opening in late 2009 of a huge smelter. In building up its industrial sector, Qatar turned to its substantial natural gas reserves, which have been used as an inexpensive feedstock and give the country a competitive advantage. The government has made this feedstock available to Industries Qatar (IQ) companies at low rates of $1 to $1.50 per million British thermal units (btu). By comparison, the Henry Hub spot price for natural gas was hovering above $5.50/btu in late 2009. IQ is now the largest company listed on the local stock exchange. As of the end of 2008 its revenue and profits were larger than the next three firms combined, and total assets were the largest of any non-banking firm in Qatar. It has grown rapidly over a short period, with profits soaring to QR7.3bn ($2.01bn) in 2008, compared to QR1.1bn ($303m) in 2003. The fertiliser segment continued to be the biggest contributor to group profitability, accounting for 48.3% of total net profits. IQ employs over 3700 people, and all of the group companies have policies designed to attract and retain Qatari graduates. However, there is a sense that the country’s industrial policy has reached a crossroads. After years of growth, there seems to have been a shift in favour of a slower pace of industrialisation, according to analysts. In addition to environmental impact, there are other concerns: namely that a gas molecule that powers a factory cannot be exported or used as a fuel source for homes. Since 2005 a moratorium has been in effect, prohibiting new projects that would utilise natural gas from the enormous North Field reservoir, though projects that were in the pipeline then have been allowed to continue towards completion.
CULTURE & TOURISM
From the first oil discoveries of the 1940s to the more recent natural gas growth that has given it one of the highest per capita GDPs in the world, Qatar’s hydrocarbons- driven economy has attracted businesspeople from all over. However, while Qatar remains primarily a business destination, it has in more recent years begun to garner a reputation as a desirable holiday spot, with a handful of travel magazines describing it as a best-kept secret and the New York Times listing Doha as one of its “places to go” in 2009. In addition to promoting the nation’s natural beauty – its mild winter climate and miles of sandy coastline – there has been an increased emphasis on the preservation of Qatar’s historic cultural sights and generating new ones. The $3bn Museum of Islamic Art forms the centrepiece of this cultural revival and has provided Qatar with an institution devoted to the preservation, study and exhibition of Islamic art spanning three continents and 13 centuries. Its appeal is global, and the museum is already playing an important role in raising Qatar’s profile in a number of important markets. The government has made the tourism sector a national priority, and in 2004 it produced an ambitious plan to transform the country into a regional centre for business, lifestyle, sports, shopping and cultural activity and backed up the plan with substantial public investment. Another tranche of government funding followed in 2008, when the state allocated $17bn to a second development plan that will run until 2014. Hotels, exhibition space and tourism-related infrastructure are all to receive massive financial support in the latest government scheme. The country welcomed around 1m visitors in 2009, in line with growth in previous years, and numbers are expected to grow in 2010.
This chapter features an interview with Hamad bin Abdul Aziz Al Kuwari,
Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage; and Ahmed Al Nuaimi, Chairman, Qatar Tourism Authority.
MEDIA & ADVERTISING
Al Jazeera, partly as a result of the Iraq War and the consequent attention foisted on the region, has become synonymous with Arab media. The emergence of Al Jazeera as a global broadcaster, able to compete with BBC World and CNN International on an equal footing, has galvanised the media sector on the peninsula, spurring media start-ups and attracting regional players operating across all segments of the media spectrum.The local industry has developed substantially since the launch of Al Jazeera in 1996, although it has been somewhat dwarfed by the global broadcaster. The country has seven daily newspapers, four in Arabic and three in English. There are two local television channels, one in English and one in Arabic, broadcast by the Qatar Radio and Television Corporation. The government-owned company also has four radio stations, including QBS, which broadcasts in English and French. In total there are 12 radio stations operating in the country. While its main players look beyond the nation and the region toward ambitious goals of global exposure, the local industry has benefitted from the concomitant opportunities to serve the growing appetite for quality media content. Indeed, as technology appropriation increases, the platforms and settings for this content will also broaden, opening up further revenue streams and growth opportunities for players all in all segments of the market.
HEALTH & EDUCATION
The country’s hydrocarbon-fuelled economy has provided the rapidly evolving domestic health system with the resources it needs to provide free, quality health care to citizens (and heavily subsidised care for foreign residents) for decades. This is done through a string of specialised and general hospitals and a network of primary care centres. However, the rapidly expanding population, including a growing number of expatriates, has spurred the government to retune its health system to ease the financial burden it places on the state. The process of finding greater efficiencies in the provision of health care began in 2005 with the creation of the National Health Authority (NHA), which was given the task of improving the workings of the public system and preparing the sector for a shift towards privatisation. It set about the task of upgrading the infrastructure of the public system with the QR9.2bn ($2.5bn) allocated to health care in the 2008/09 national budget, the results of which are already being felt in the sector in the form of increased bed capacity and the provision of more services. Progress in creating a greater role for the private sector has not been so swift, with the global economic climate in 2009 deemed unsuitable for any change in the public-provision paradigm.
Increasing the educational options open to its citizens forms a central part in the country’s strategy of moving away from reliance on its hydrocarbon wealth and creating a diversified, knowledge-based economy. The government continues to invest heavily in its efforts to turn this vision into a reality: the QR19.7bn ($5.4bn) allocated to education in the 2008/09 national budget represents around 20% of total spending and an almost 50-fold increase in six years. The results of the state’s largesse are visible across the nation’s capital, from the sleek lines of the campus buildings in Education City to the scores of new schools that have been built by the Public Works Authority (Ashghal). Within the classroom, curricula have moved away from the traditional method of rote learning towards a more analytical, problem-solving approach, and teaching in English is emphasised.
This chapter features interviews with Mohammed Fathy Saoud, President, Qatar Foundation; and Abdulla bin Khalid Al Qahtani, Minister of Health and Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Health.
RETAIL
The global economic crisis caused a shift in the retail market. Qataris and expatriates spent less in 2009 and retailers saw their bottom lines squeezed as a result. However, the mood was upbeat. A slower rate of growth in the retail market had been expected, following rapid expansion between 2004 and 2008. Moreover, demand remains strong, given Qatar’s solid economic foundation. With the world’s highest GDP per capita, Qataris have plenty of disposable income to spend, coupled with a large community of expatriates and a rising profile among tourists. Meanwhile, shopping malls are still a source of entertainment and mall designers have incorporated ice skating rinks, children’s playground areas and IMAX movie theatres, turning these areas into destinations.
This chapter features interviews with Bader Abdullah Al Darwish, Chairman and Managing Director, Darwish Holding; and Mohammed J Jaidah, Chief Development Officer, Jaidah Group.
ENVIRONMENT
Qatar’s rapid economic development, with GDP estimated to grow by 14.2% in 2010 according to Credit Suisse, has come at a cost. The sharp rise in population and the intensive building programme, which has spurred demand for power, water and wastewater infrastructure, has placed a significant burden on the country’s natural habitats and environmental sustainability. Qatar’s per capita electricity consumption is also the highest in Gulf and has now surpassed the levels of developed Western nations such as the US, growing by over 4% per annum between 1990 and 2003. While the country has managed to decrease the carbon dioxide emission intensity per unit of GDP and per capita in the decade to 2006, the government has recognised that there is much to be done to mitigate the potential impact of increased development and population densities. To that end, the government published the Advancing Sustainable Development section of the Qatar National Vision 2030 in coordination with UNDP in July 2009. The publication, part of the country’s second human development report, outlines three areas where government policy and intervention will be focused: establishing water security, tackling threats to the marine environment and mitigating the impact of climate change. With the country spending 2.8% of GDP, or $1.5bn, on research annually, the prospects for developing innovative solutions to Qatar’s environmental issues look strong. The triumvirate of government capital, academic expertise and the private sector impetus to commercialise projects will be crucial to the development and incubation of technologies, which perform the dual purpose of fostering economic growth and reducing the burden on the country’s natural resources.
SPORTS
Over the last decade, Qatar has established itself as a leading country in the region for sports infrastructure, rolling out international-standard arenas in a variety of sports. After successfully hosting the Asian Games in 2006, the World Indoor Championships in Athletics in 2010, and a host of men’s and women’s tennis and golf events, plus being granted the right to host the Asian Cup in 2011, Doha has grand designs to be the first Arab city to host one of the two leading international sporting events – football’s World Cup or the Olympic Games. The government has already created an environment for such a culture to flourish. The quantity and quality of sporting infrastructure relative to the population size of just over 1.6m is impressive. The state already has nine sports stadia, seven athletic tracks, six competition swimming pools and 26 football grounds, according to the Qatar Statistics Authority. The premier sporting location is the 50,000-capacity Khalifa Stadium, the centrepiece of the ASPIRE Academy and the venue for the 2006 Asian Games, one of the largest international sporting tournaments in the world. While the Qatar Olympic Committee oversees most sporting federations, the focus of sporting development in the country is the ASPIRE Zone, which boasts some of the world’s highest-quality sport stadia and venues, and underneath it, the ASPIRE Academy. This education and sporting institution, opened in 2004, provides the environment in terms of both infrastructure and human resources to cultivate the potential of young athletes from both Qatar and further afield.
This chapter features an interview with Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Secretary-General, Qatar Olympic Committee.
THE BUSINESS GUIDE
This section takes a thorough look at tax laws in Qatar, with the assistance of KPMG. It also provides potential investors with all the necessary information regarding investment laws with the help of Clyde & Co.
The chapter includes an interview with Rajesh Menon, an Advisory Partner at KPMG; and a viewpoint from David Salt, a partner at Clyde & Co. br>
THE GUIDE
This section provides a practical guide to the country, including information on top hotels, government listings and other practical phone numbers, as well as essential insight into the culture and etiquette of Qatar for first-time visitors.
