Doha: Qatar’s non-hydrocarbon sector continues to drive economic growth. The country’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and performance of inflows in non-hydrocarbon sector has continually exceeded the inflows in the hydrocarbon space said a senior official.
A panel discussion entitled ‘The Future of Foreign Direct Investment in Post-COVID Era’ in recently concluded Doha Forum discussed priorities about FDI and how to ensure economic development in this new environment. Sheikh Ali Alwaleed Al Thani, CEO of Investment Promotion Agency Qatar noted, “If you look at Qatar’s FDI inflows specifically, especially the performance of inflows in the non-hydrocarbon sector which has continually exceeded the inflows in the hydrocarbon space,” he said.
He added that Qatar sits in a good position and with a number of secular trends that has emerged during COVID-19 such as digitisation and especially supply chain resiliency in Qatar but have accelerated with the current geopolitical situation. “I think that will help carry us forward. The 2021 figures show that we have surpassed pre-COVID levels in terms of global FDI flows and so, there is a strong rebound. When you look at Qatar there are a number of tailwinds that would be beneficial from the FDI perspective. We have the current commodity super cycle, Qatar’s own diversification efforts and also the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 at the end of this year. So, we are very optimistic,” Sheikh Ali underscored.
Speaking about current emerging trends and high energy prices in Europe and Asia he said this shifts Qatar’s own comparative advantage. “We see companies that are seeking to re-diversify their presence in a way that could create supply chain resiliency. Qatar has invested a lot around the subject of resiliency, food security and on creating our own supply chain that will be resilient to external shocks and which in itself has become a value proposition.”
“Qatar’s value proposition has enhanced due to the investments we have made during previous rounds of external shocks that we managed to sustain and has brought fruit during this crisis and investors see that,” he added.
Highlighting the role of ICT and technology, Sheikh Ali said, “Microsoft doubled Qatar’s ICT contribution to our GDP and so, we received the benefits of FDI and there is benefit in creating high skilled jobs in terms of diversification of economy, especially in the non-hydrocarbon sector. The shift and focus within the non-hydrocarbon space is important.”
Addressing the panel discussion, Lana Khalaf, General Manager of Microsoft Qatar said, “Microsoft is co-investing with Qatar on bringing a global data center to Qatar. We have seen $3.14bn going into the economy over the next five years in Qatar as a result of this investment in digital technologies. We will see around 24,000 new digital jobs in the country over the next five years. Therefore, digital investments and digital transformation is key for the future and is at the forefront of recovery of economies.”
Ahmet Burak Dağlıoğlu, President of Investment Office of the Republic of Turkey, highlighted that the most important changes were around sustainability and digitalisation and financing of technology startups that became an important driver of FDI inflows to many countries especially emerging markets.
