Qatar Economy Keeps Growing Rapidly

Ambassador: Let’s start with the history of the relations between the State of Qatar and P. R. China. It started in 1988, when Qatar and China established diplomatic relations with couples of MOUs and appearance of Ambassadors in both countries. 

Our bilateral relations have come through three stages since then. The first stage was the establishment in 1988. The second stage came 10 years after that when Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani visited China in 1999. It opened a new chapter in our bilateral relations conducting more MOUs and agreements. From that time we started exporting energy – gas to China. We call it the gas diplomacy. We’ve witnessed frequent high-level visits since then including the historical visit of President Xi Jinping. He visited Qatar as the Deputy President in 2008. The third and obviously most exclusive stage was in 2014 when Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani paid an official visit to China. We established the Strategic Partnership during that visit.  

In a word, our bilateral relations developed well since its establishment. It’s been 30 years now. We’ve witnessed successful cooperation in various fields. And it’s keep growing. I believe that in the next 30 years there are more to achieve between our countries and our people. 

Ambassador: Qatar's economy is one of the richest economies in the world based on GDP per capita. Obviously oil and gas is our first economic strategic item. Qatar has invested a lot in oil and gas in the last 20 years and Qatar now is one of the leading countries exporting energy to many other countries. Qatar’s oil and natural gas resources are the country’s main economic engine and government revenue source, driving Qatar’s high economic growth and per capita income levels, robust state spending on public entitlements, and booming construction spending, particularly as Qatar prepares to host the World Cup in 2022.

Proved natural gas reserves exceed 25 trillion cubic meters - 13% of the world total and, among countries, third largest in the world - and proved oil reserves exceed 25 billion barrels, allowing production to continue at current levels for about 56 years. Despite the dominance of oil and natural gas, Qatar has made significant gains in strengthening non-oil sectors, such as manufacturing, construction, and financial services, leading non-oil GDP to steadily rise in recent years to just over half of the total.

We have been aiming at developing a more diversified economy in Qatar. And the most important thing for us to do that is investment. We have our investment authority promoting and facilitating both domestic and foreign investment. 

Ambassador: Qatar has studied the initiative since it started in 2013 and came with a conclusion that it’s a very noble initiative for the benefits not only of China but for the benefits of Asian and even the whole world. 

When Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani visited China in 2014 and declared Strategic Partnership, we also signed bilateral agreement to contribute to One Belt One Road initiative. We in fact stated that Qatar would not be as a transit country but engaged thoroughly in the initiative. We’ve managed to set up some mechanism in Qatar to support this initiative. 

Ambassador: Qatar is one of the most open countries for investors. At the moment there are 187 Chinese companies, from major big companies to medium-sized companies, contributing in our development, especially in infrastructure sectors. And the number is increasing every year. 

Ambassador: Infrastructure should be the first sector. For the next 10 years there will be a lot of new infrastructure projects especially because Qatar is going to host the World Cup in 2022. Actually China Railway Construction Corporation is now doing the biggest stadium project in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup. 

Apart from construction, another sector very important in next five years is tourism. We are promoting tourism and trying to attract more Chinese tourists to visit Qatar. In order to do that, earlier this year we’ve announced exemption of visa to Chinese passport holders. Now visitors can get visa online or on arrival, which is much more convenient. And the connection is easy. Qatar airline opened 4 more direct flights from China to Qatar earlier this year. Now you can go to Qatar from Chinese major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou quite easily. I think this will promote investment in tourism sector also. 

Ambassador: Last 3 years we’ve conducted three times the Made in China Exhibition in Qatar. It started in 2015, continued in 2016 and last November we just had the third Made in China Exhibition. 

This Made in China Exhibition is a new landmark of cooperation between Qatar and China. We promote certain elements each year, constructions, communication technology, building materials, transportation, education, etc. 

We conduct this exhibition as part of the OBOR initiative. The exhibition lasts one week every year, and Chinese companies we invited to come to the exhibition meet potential business partners not only from Qatar but also from other Middle East countries, because the news of this exhibition has been spread and attracted great interests in the region. 

In 2016 we attracted about 160 Chinese companies to the exhibition. November 2017 we had almost 90. That might happen due to the economic blockade from our neighbor countries. We understand some Chinese companies were holding back a little. Does the blockade affect us? Yes, it has its influence someway, but not as much as people may think. We’ve found methods as substitutions and regain the balance. Now everything is running just right. And I hope we will have more Chinese companies for the next exhibition. Challenge is something we all have; it’s just different in different countries, different times.  

At last, Qatar is a beautiful destination for tourists. We have a series of entertainment and sightseeing tour: natural scenery, camp in desert, historical and cultural heritage, galleries, museums, sports, etc. All you need is to go to Doha.