Qatar’s non-oil economy has witnessed steady growth and the country was well placed to meet its 2030 vision, in which economic diversification is a key component, said the economy and commerce minister.

Qatar has been able to contain negative costs and had been successful in introducing new legislative reforms that have been established to increase private investment in the country’s economy, stated Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani.

He was giving the opening address after inaugurating the Meed’s Qatar Projects conference in Doha.

“State legislation such as the New Companies Law has been put in place to create an investment environment to allow investors to participate in all aspects of Qatar’s economy,” stated Al Thani.
 
According to him, the ministry was working on a number of other initiatives to boost private investment, including establishing a PPP framework.

The minister also highlighted the plan for new free zones to be implemented by 2019 to “plug the gap in logistics.”

In his address, Ali Ahmed Al Kuwari, the group chief executive officer of QNB, told the conference that Qatar’s economy was continuing to experience growth due to economic diversification efforts, which have been driven by government investment.

Al Kuwari said that investment of hydrocarbon revenues into diversification programmes had resulted in non-oil GDP growth remaining above 10 per cent since 2012, reaching 10.6 per cent in 2013 and 2014.

He pointed out that the diversification efforts had helped in reducing the dependence of Qatar’s economy on the hydrocarbons sector, with its contribution to the country’s GDP seen falling to 34 per cent in 2015, with financial services and government services having made a significant contribution to the country’s non-oil GDP in the first three quarters of 2015.

Al Kuwair said as per QNB estimates Qatar is set to invest about $70 to $80 billion every year on development projects till next year.

Saud Abdullah Al Attiyah, director of economic policies and research department, ministry of economy and commerce, said the ministry would submit the draft PPP law to the cabinet by August of this year.

“We hope to have the framework completed and start implementing the [PPP] law by the end of the year,” said Al Attiyah.

He pointed out that the new PPP framework was set to offer a number of opportunities in 2016 and 2017, including a PPP programme for the construction of 10-12 public schools.-TradeArabia News Service