Sucking Money from Qatar

xtian001
By xtian001

from: LifeontheSpot.com

Why are you here in Qatar?

I've met a lot of people saying that they're here for the experience, so that they could travel and so forth but I'm sure the main thing that keeps them planted here is the money, which is so hard for them to admit. To say that expats are "sucking" the money from Qatar is not fair. It's a give and take thing. We do our job to help Qatar build a good foundation for its future (having more experience and expertise than locals), while we get paid for our services.

It’s the same thing that happened to Saudi Arabia. Do you think that Saudi Arabia would have been able to get rich by itself, through its locals? I think not. But through the services, experiences, and expertise of expats, they now have one of the richest countries in the world and earn millions of dollars a day. In turn, the government now has the power and money to give its locals opportunity to get better education (expatriate teachers), be trained (expat trainers), get a job and be a part of the Saudi workforce. The success of this, of course, lies on the locals. Would they use their education for Saudi’s progress? Would they work as hard as expats knowing that that company who hired them is forced to retain them even though they absent themselves from work or arrive late and leave early?

There are two points that we should make clear. Expats do come here to earn money and this would be their main reason for coming here (please, stop the hypocrisy!). However, we are not here to dupe the people of Qatar and be like leeches sucking on their riches. We’re here to work and work hard. That entails using knowledge and experience that we have to do our work right and to help Qatar in its progress. And with Qatarization, this also entails sharing this knowledge and experience to locals so that in the future, they can do the same thing that we do here. Also, our being here provides Qatar a backbone, a structure so to speak. If in the future, the locals are ready to take our positions, then so be it as it is their right. But at the moment, one could not live without the other. Qatar needs expats to guide its economy while expats need Qatar for its money. Qataris should admit that Qatar could not survive and make progress without the expatriate community. And for expatriates, stop being a hypocrite by saying that you’re not here for the money and you could earn better in your own country cause if that’s the case, why not stay there? Don’t give me that s**t about traveling, about gaining experience (as gulf experience doesn’t really mean too much to other countries), being able to teach and share your experiences with the locals, or about being able to spend more time with the family. These are only elements that you do get as part of the package.

Still, I don’t think there is no higher goal than for us to be able to say that we are doing our jobs well and hope that in our own way, we are contributing to Qatar and its economy as Qatar is compensating us for being here.

What do you think?

By anonymous• 14 Aug 2007 19:07
Rating: 5/5
anonymous

Expats are here but we r not acting like some sort of a drain on their wealth. ON the contrary we work here twice as harder nite 7 day and get no sort of career development or progress.. Yes money is definitely the motive but the recent spiralling inflation and huge rents really erodes the monetary income, We face a hell of discrimination at the work place.. In terms of religious bias etc....

Qatar is a wonderful place and changing rapidly but not the people... I mean the High net worth individuals who r shud i say scot free and basking in the wealth..../.

By amnesia• 14 Aug 2007 17:57
Rating: 5/5
amnesia

i dont think expats are sucking the economy dry at all.

The economy is healthy (gov has a surplus of 62billion they're trying to spend), and expats are helping the country develop ever faster.

More expats I say. Wait.. correction.. more tolerant and respectfull expats! :D

__________________________

I Love Qatar - http://www.iloveqatar.net

By anonymous• 14 Aug 2007 13:44
anonymous

Harley...good reply...

Xtian...you should realize many labourers are here without any dreams...they left and came here to make money and they are loosing some good life with their family. The way of your thinking is very bad. Please reconsider and reply...

[img_assist|nid=24194|title=A Good Face|desc=::oo:: A good face is a letter of recommendation ::o::|link=none|align=left|width=180|height=180]

By Harley60• 14 Aug 2007 10:29
Rating: 5/5
Harley60

I came to the Gulf to work.....a friend called me up in the UK and asked to join his company. A warm sunny climate and a chance to see the region enticed me here. An uplift in salary of about 20% or so, plus the career development opportunity, made it even more attractive. I have worked all around the region, but decided to base myself in Qatar as I prefer it to Dubai and Bahrain. I met my wife here and have stayed because she has been here for ten years and is reluctant to move.

Clearly, as expats, we are not 'sucking money' from Qatar. We contribute to the local economy by spending our money here, paying taxes (yes, there are some taxes here!), even borrowing locally to buy property. Qatar's economic growth is driven by its rich natural resources, a modernising government and the expat workforce. By working here we are contributing to the development of the country.

However, for most expats salary money repatriated abroad has been badly hit by exchange rates and local inflation. I can now earn more money abroad than I do in Qatar, so the incentive to continue working here is greatly reduced. But, I still enjoy driving along the Corniche in the mornings!

By Willys• 14 Aug 2007 10:20
Willys

Sorry Xtian I didn't get ur point,

what exactly do we have think about

I think there is some sort of a massage that u want to convey..right?

Have a nice time all the time !

ME

By Willys• 14 Aug 2007 10:17
Willys

Sorry I did get ur point, what exactly do we have think about

Have a nice time all the time !

ME

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