Qatar has been working for years in the five-year development plans under the umbrella of Qatar Vision 2030, which carried ambitious directions towards diversifying the country’s sources of income, reducing the role of the oil and gas sector in the gross domestic product, while developing the non-hydrocarbon industries sector, and encouraging the entry of the private sector in these industries. Noting that the Qatari GDP constitutes more than 60% of the industrial sector, while the hydrocarbon industries sector and its derivatives constitute more than 91% of this contribution.
Perhaps the trend towards diversification is the best in the light of global economic changes, as it constitutes a safety valve and a guarantee of future prosperity and the sustainability of economic growth, and it is a trend that had successful experiences in countries such as Norway, Azerbaijan and others in that they were economies dependent on oil and gas and turned into economies with diversified income with investments It is strong in sectors such as industry, tourism, and others, which were supervised and implemented by sovereign investment funds in countries. For example, the Norway Sovereign Investment Pension Fund, which was established in 1990, is the second in the world with assets exceeding $1.136 trillion, according to the latest global classifications of the World Bank.
Here comes the role of the Qatar Sovereign Fund, which is managed by the Qatar Investment Authority, which ranks ninth in the world in terms of the size of assets amounting to $461 billion, and is also ranked fifth in the Arab world, which was established in 2005, according to "Arabian Business".
The agency works to achieve Qatar Vision 2030, through its endeavor to diversify the country's sources of income, increase long-term investments, and achieve sustainable development.
If the first seed is heavy industries, the field is open to attract other industries of no less importance, which was announced by the CEO of the Qatar Investment Authority, Mr. Mansour Al-Mahmoud, in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The agency mainly aims to invest in owning shares of stable and successful assets in various sectors, and according to the American Bloomberg Economic Network, the financial sector in the Qatar Investment Authority’s portfolio represents 55.4% of the agency’s investments, and the banking sector accounts for about 40.8% of the total of those financial investments, while The automobile manufacturing sector represents about 15.1%.
Although the approach followed by the agency in foreign investments in global markets generates income for the state, investing locally along with investments and foreign capital attracted will achieve greater income, accompanied by added value and creating opportunities that guarantee the economic prosperity of the state, and this was evident in the important role The device broke the blockade imposed on Qatar on July 5, 2017 by entering into investments that meet the needs of the local market, especially food projects.
Here, the Qatar Investment Authority must work to achieve great benefit from these foreign investments to create added value in the local economy by activating offset programs by concluding acquisition deals, which simply means setting conditions for the entities in which the agency invests that certain percentages are invested in Qatar.
For example, the device owns about 6% of EIDS, which owns the Airbus aircraft industry, and 17% of the Volkswagen Group.
The implementation of such a proposition in the past was hindered by the lack of infrastructure in Qatar commensurate with such an ambitious transformation. However, this reality has changed today. The State of Qatar has two global edifices, Hamad International Airport and Hamad Port, which are facilities at the highest level of professionalism, capabilities and high capacity. On transportation, shipping, storage and logistics operations, accompanied by economic zones and free zones prepared and equipped to provide all means of successful attraction to investors with large industrial and commercial activities, and to facilitate the movement of supply chains.
It also has an infrastructure at the highest level of sanitation, rain drainage, a network of roads and axes that connect all parts of the country to each other smoothly without going through the center of cities and places of traffic congestion. Industrial cities for heavy industries of all kinds, which are easy to attract investors in light of the existing infrastructure and Hamad Port.
It is economically feasible to seriously plan to localize such industries, especially those in which Qatar has ownership stakes, such as the commercial aircraft industry "Airbus" and cars within the Volkswagen Group.
This proposition, which I am reviewing under the umbrella of Qatar Vision 2030 and beyond, can be fully and realistically achieved within the next ten years, and all that remains to be achieved is to work on coordinating efforts between the Qatar Investment Authority and the relevant ministries in the country, identifying enabling and support factors, and preparing implementation plans with clear goals and measurable steps. And the application in which the state markets itself as an appropriate and strategic alternative to attract industrial investments in view of the existing ingredients.
If the first seed is those industries, then the field is open to attract other industries of no less importance, which was announced by the CEO of the agency, Mr. Mansour Al-Mahmoud, in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he stated that the agency will target the renewable energy and technology sectors in the next year. investments.
In conjunction with this, legislative frills must be put in place that mainly guarantee the rights of the state and the citizen so that this growth and economic openness is primarily in the interest of the citizen, and has a direct and tangible impact in raising the level of income and well-being for him.
And I say legislative frills because what is required are simple and clear amendments to the laws that govern these activities, such as investment and bankruptcy laws, in a way that constitutes an incentive and guarantee for the foreign investor and creates an attractive environment for investment, while observing the rights of the state and the citizen.