THE economic diversification plans as envisaged in Qatar National Vision (QNV) 2030 are advancing at an impressive pace.
The latest figures released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) on country’s industrial sector testify that pace. Qatar government is continuously working to increase the participation of private sector in growth of local industries and exports and has achieved many successes in this regard. It is also attracting investments in the non-hydrocarbon field in recent years.
Through a number of pieces of legislation regarding investment of non-Qatari capital in country’s industrial sector and easy government procedures for establishing manufacturing units and other businesses, Qatar’s industrial sector is steadily growing offering new opportunities to foreign investors.
According to data recently released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the manufacturing industry of Qatar has contributed QR12.02bn to GDP in the first quarter of this year.
The data also shows that worth of total exports of local origin reached QR68.28m in Q2 of 2021. There was also an increase of 719 workers in factories in Q2 of 2021. The Ministry also revealed that 32 more local products were registered in Q2 of 2021.
As per earlier data shared by the Ministry in June this year, the manufacturing industry had contributed over QR10bn to Qatar’s GDP in the fourth quarter of 2020 while the country had added 16 new factories to its manufacturing sector in Q1 of 2021. Qatar National Manufacturing Strategy 2018-2022 aims to accelerate growth in the sector to develop and diversify state’s economy and apparently the strategy is yielding results.
The total number of factories in 2020 reached 927, recording a six percent increase, compared to 2019. The total volume of investments in the industrial sector in 2020 amounted to approximately QR263bn, showing a growth rate of 0.4 percent, compared to 2019. All this was achieved despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Public-Private Partnership law has also contributed to enhancing investment prospects in the country.
It also enhances healthy competition and innovation. The law offers investors an opportunity to finance, develop, and operate projects in a variety of priority sectors, including food security, sports, tourism, health, education, and logistics.
A KPMG report of April this year stated that Qatar’s efforts to promote local manufacturing are expected to boost production value for the sector by approximately 30 percent in the next few years. The growth in the industry would create over 100,000 job opportunities by 2025, the report added.
