Today our members had the pleasure of hearing from Managing Director of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce, Peter Cook.
In the Chamber’s 22nd oil and gas survey, it was noted that ‘business optimism in international markets remains relatively strong’ and indeed it was stronger than UKCS measures of confidence so it was no wonder that this round table discussion was of interest.
Qatar currently has the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per head in the world and ranks 16th in the global competitiveness index. Interestingly, the international monetary fund (IMF) forecasts that Qatar will have the highest real growth in the region over the next 4 years and the population is expected to grow by 7% in 2015 due to a large influx in expatriates.
Peter explained how the Qatar Chamber of Commerce helps businesses to navigate this new market and how around 250 companies have already benefitted from their support.
The country’s Qatar National Vision 2030 talks about the defining characteristics of Qatar’s future along with its opportunities and challenges. Our delegates learned how the state plans to manage its growth and uncontrolled expansion including the development of Lusail City, north of Doha, along with a new airport, a number of high quality schools and the attraction of a number of UK high street retailers.
Our delegates were keen to hear about whether the downturn in the oil and gas sector had had any effect in the country through to the formal tender processes in place.
His summation was that businesses considering working in Qatar should explore these opportunities and the Chamber of Commerce’s international network is there to help.