Qatar has one of the fastest growing economies in the world and by 2012 will be the largest liquefied natural gas supplier (LNG) in the world, too. Much has changed in recent years and it is not only mega gas deals and high prices that have helped to create a booming economy and allowed Qatar to top the ranking in the World Economic Forum’s Arab World Competitiveness Report 2005, ahead of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Revised estimates show that Qatar’s GDP grew by a massive 25% in 2004 and forecasts suggest a further huge 29% growth in 2005. Qatar’s economy is not only about gas, although it is committed to spending $108bn on infrastructure and hydrocarbon projects over the next five years.
It also wants genuine support and partnership with the international financial community to achieve its ends. Finance minister Yousef Hussain Kamal has not only played a key part in achieving Qatar’s breakthrough in gas but has also been instrumental in establishing the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), the country’s unique model for closer partnership with international firms. Unlike Bahrain and Dubai, the QFC, which was established with consummate speed in February 2005, is neither an offshore centre nor a property play, but represents a different model and a critical building block in the management of a more diverse and even more wealthy economy.
The finance minister, with the help of Mohammed bin Ahmed al-Thani, the minister of economy and commerce, has established a new credible financial centre, which by the end of 2005 was beginning to attract international players such as HSBC. After some difficult years in the late 1990s, Qatar’s economy has been transformed and its sustainable growth path now looks assured.
As finance minister, Mr Hussain Kamal has helped remove the financial hurdles to achieve the current high growth but he has also helped to create a new financial infrastructure for the country’s future needs – an impressive dual achievement.
