Qatar

Qatar’s already busy construction industry is about to step up a gear, and it is not just the major undertaking of hosting the 2022 World Cup football tournament that is going to spur growth. A massive state investment programme to expand the nation’s infrastructure and private sector spending on residential and commercial properties are also tipped to build momentum in the sector.

On April 3, 2011, Qatar officially launched the National Health Strategy (NHS) 2011-16, the government’s plan to upgrade and improve the country’s health care sector. Based on principles originally outlined in National Vision 2030, Qatar’s long-term development programme, the NHS has the potential to bring about substantial changes to the sector.

Qatar is taking definitive steps to refine its education system, increasing the focus on preparation for employment in a knowledge-based society as the government works to boost job opportunities and diversify the economy.

Thanks in large part to the number of hydrocarbons expansion projects that have taken place over the past few years, Qatar is expected to see sustained economic growth for the foreseeable future. According to an economic bulletin released by Saudi Arabia’s Samba Financial Group in late March, the country could see GDP growth in excess of 19% by the end of 2011. Similarly, nominal GDP is forecast to grow by 22.4%, from $122.3bn at the end of 2010 to $149.7bn by the end of 2011. These gains can be attributed primarily to the country’s rapidly expanding energy sector, which saw growth of nearly 36% in the third quarter of 2010, due to increased production and rising oil prices.

With the government and international agencies alike predicting GDP to expand by almost 20% this year, and a budget surplus in the double-digit billions, Qatar’s economy is set to outstrip nearly all others around the world in 2011. Just about the only cloud on the horizon is the return of demand-driven inflation, though even this concern seems likely to dissipate in the face of sustained growth.

With a move to become one of the first countries to offer non-Latin language scripts in domain names, Qatar is pushing forward with efforts to help accelerate the development of e-services and e-commerce environments throughout the Arabic-speaking world. In February, the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR) announced that its website had became the first to use a Qatar-specific domain name in Arabic, with more Arabic domains set to be available for government entities and registered trademark holders starting in March.