The Middle East

Over the past two decades, the Gulf region has become home to a growing number of airlines as national carriers have emerged in Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Three of these – Qatar Airways (QA), Emirates and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad – have grown far beyond the region, becoming some of the industry’s largest players. The impact of their...

The Ras Laffan Industrial City and port were constructed through a partnership between Qatar’s state-owned gas firms and international energy companies to put in place the current liquefied natural gas (LNG) compression and export infrastructure. Today, Qatar has the world’s largest LNG tanker fleet and the largest LNG processing facility,...

In the past five years Doha has announced plans for a new railway system, a new port, nine stadia, and new highways and roads. These plans, in conjunction with tourism- and retail-related projects, are set to stretch Doha’s transport capacity to its limits. In the period surrounding the 2006 Asian Games, Qatar saw a flurry of construction...

With data from the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) indicating that real estate prices rose by 108% between July 2009 and December 2013, the local market is showing signs of steady recovery from the drop in prices caused by the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008. The rising prices point to growing confidence in the market and strong supporting...

Thanks to an influx of foreign workers and a steady birth rate, Qatar’s population is among the fastest-growing in the world. The population grew by more than 25% from 1.55m in 2008 to 2.01m in January 2014. The capital’s metropolitan area accounted for nearly 75% of the population in 2012, according to the government’s Permanent Population...

The state’s economic development strategy has until recently focused on building the infrastructure required to maximise production in the energy sector. As production levels have stabilised, and with most major energy-related investments either completed or on hold until the moratorium on new development at the North Field is lifted, the...