The Middle East

Qatar’s health care sector is undergoing vigorous change, for both good and bad reasons. The good news is that Qataris are living longer. The bad is that more are living with lifestyle-related chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. To meet this challenge, the government has been making sizeable investments in health care: Qatar now spends more per capita on health than any...

As part of a long-term strategy to diversify away from dependency on hydrocarbons and move towards a more knowledge-based economy, Qatar has placed considerable importance on education and training. Due to the fact that the Foreign Investment Law exempts the education sector from the requirement to have a local Qatari partner or sponsor, the opportunities for foreign investment and partnerships...

As a strategic priority for national development, the tourism sector is showing promise, and visitor numbers, particularly from the GCC, are on the rise. Business travellers are the mainstay of the sector, though Qatar’s growing status as a sports and shopping destination is also enhancing long-term potential, while a growing regional cruise market and a new port in Doha are raising interest and...

Qatar’s telecoms sector has put itself on a sound footing, thanks to ongoing investments in domestic and global operations. With a solid fixed network, a growing satellite market and sprawling 3G coverage, residents enjoy high connectivity. The ever-rising demand for mobile data has already fuelled a drive for 4G coverage and could prove lucrative to providers even as the use of voice and SMS...

With data from the Qatar Central Bank showing that real estate prices rose by 103% between July 2009 and September 2013, the local market shows signs of steady recovery from the global financial crisis in 2008. The increase in prices points to growing confidence in the market and strong supporting fundamentals. Much of this growth can be attributed to government reforms that relaxed the rules for...

The construction sector grew by 13% y-o-y in third-quarter 2013, driven primarily by spending on transport infrastructure. With more than $222bn of projects in the pipeline, sector growth has been forecast at 15% for 2014, while spending on infrastructure is set to reach $150bn in the run-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The scale of construction activity in the region has created some challenges...