Qatari capital's 'extraordinary' growth
Worth reading... I'll leave you to form your own opinions...
It is probably time to add Qatar to the list of great modern growth stories.
Its GDP and population have doubled since 2004, and as of June, there were 18,000 buildings under construction – more than one for every 100 people in the country.
Most of that construction is taking place in Doha, which has exploded from a population of 500,000 people in 2004 to 1.3 million today, blossoming from a small, quiet burg to a buzzing, polyglot city of business, research and progressive thinking.
“The rate of growth in Doha is nothing short of extraordinary,” said Robert Puentes, an urban growth analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington, adding that no major American city had ever grown at this pace.
Labourers, scientists, academics, designers and financiers have come knocking. According to the World Population Bureau, Qatar’s net migration rate of nearly 10 per cent is nearly double those of its nearest competitors – Bahrain, Singapore and the UAE.
As its natural-gas fuelled economy zips along – one of the world’s fastest growing at an estimated growth rate of 16 per cent this year – the good times are likely to continue for Qatar.
“Its incredible, but it’s expected in Qatar,” said Hatem Samman, the head of Booz & Company’s Ideation Centre, a thinktank based in Dubai.
“The trend for Qatar is headed in the right direction, given that there is economic and population growth to rival any country in the world,” he said.
Masraf al Rayan, a financial analyst, estimates Qatar’s population will reach 2 million by 2013, which means Doha will grow by an additional 20 per cent in the next three years.
This explains the capital’s construction boom, which includes a major airport, the US$20 billion (Dh73.45bn) Pearl Qatar residential and retail development, the $5.5bn Musheireb urban-renewal project downtown and the $14bn Lusail City residential and commercial waterfront development. The number of hotel rooms in Doha is set to double in the next two years even as new financial centres, exhibition facilities and housing complexes appear.
Landlords might argue the city has enough housing. The number of units has increased by nearly 150 per cent since 2004, outpacing the population boom. Doha has become a tenants’ market, with rents down 50 per cent or more in the past 18 months, including 11 per cent in the first quarter of this year, according to Asteco, the property advisory firm.
Ibrahim Ibrahim, an economic adviser to the Qatari government, expects economic expansion to slow by more than half in the next two years as major energy and infrastructure projects are completed and tens of thousands of labourers return home.
“Part of this new population will eventually leave, in the short term,” said Mr Samman. “But still many people are going to stay, maybe two thirds will stay and it should be fine.”
One government estimate has the country’s population growing as little as 500,000 by 2030.
Mr Puentes said, “Unless a comprehensive approach is taken to managing growth there is certainly a risk of overbuilding.” He spoke of the problems the vacation hotspot of Las Vegas and other American cities have faced because of a glut of housing in the economic downturn.
“There are more vacant homes for sale now than at any time in our nation’s history,” he said, referring to the US. “This is a problem because it can breed crime and disorder, and also accelerate a process of further disinvestment from certain neighbourhoods.”
He urged Qatari leaders to find a way to make vacant properties productive and also to be mindful of carbon reduction and the demands of climate change.
Some might argue Doha has wrestled the title of world’s fastest growing city from Dubai. But Mr Puentes sees the regional centres as allies.
“A co-operative network would make sense,” he said. “They must remember that they operate in a global marketplace. Metros that are able to grow and attract globally-connected, high-value service firms can access, and benefit from, a worldwide array of customers, workers, and contracted services, ultimately boosting quality growth at home.”
Source: The National
its difficult to start from the scratch...if they wanna open shops in asia, it would need experienced qatari entrepreneurs which i dont think could match the skills of already existing business units....and thus may not compete with them..
Why not just set up shop in the countries from which the labor is coming? Energy is cheap here, but water is expensive, as is food, building materials, etc. Dubai is relatively small scale and with limited scope, and it hardly sustains it. But maybe it could work on a grander scale if they pick something in which to specialize.
thay don't need to pay millions of dollars to the present executives. The good minds are here already and they get it free! Lol!
yeah brit, i dont see any other feasible way to make it a manufacturing hub of the middle east..
Dubai is already doing that ...
linc, all qatar has to do is to establish a free zone for multi-national companies to start manufacturing facilities here. the companies will get cheap labour from asia as its always the case. land,water and electricity would be relatively cheap as the country still would be having captive power plants with the remaining gas wells..
if excise is waived, a lot many companies would be attracted to qatar.
forget about R&D as all the intellectuals and scientists would fly to greener pastures in western countries..as always.
I suppose the Americans are still in Cuba after over a hundred years, and even though Cuba is been America's enemy for half a century. ex.ex.expat--you're right.
and will be here after.
I agree, the notion of Qatar as a manufacturing base is ludicrous. In fact, it is hardto imagine what the future will hold regarding Qatar's future because I just don't see a point where Qataris will accept low level jobs or starting at the bottom and working their way up i regard to employment. It's like the country is a restaurant with too many chefs and not enough waiters, porters and dishwashers.
I don't see how Qatar will ever be a major manufacturing district given that it has to import virtually all of its labor and pay it above what those laborers/expats make in their own countries. If it develops is research and development sector and holds patents on some high-tech products, then maybe . . .
there is a new industrial area coming up in sailiya near doha in which many private companies are buying space. this is a good move but i feel it has to be in a much larger scale and in a few locations in qatar if the country wants to have a sustainable revenew after the gas reserves deplete.
if qatar wants to attract multinational companies to build their manufacturing facilities in qatar, all it has to do is to provide land on lease which is there in plenty. the excise duties may be waived or charged at the minimum which will add to the bottomline of the companies. water and power would be paid for by the companies.
if the country provides a favourable business environment to multinationals, they will definitely come here..
this will also take care of the 'over-build' problems as so many employees would have to be accommodated as well.
britexpat--tell that to Okinawa!
I agree, a joint venture would be the way to go. It worked with South Korea and Japan.
The U.S only needs one soldier on the base to ensure its presence :O)
I doubt whether holding the world cup is viable for a small nation such as Qatar. It would be better to go with a joint venture with Dubai or Oman..
The world cup would result in overbuilding here, just as it has in a number of former host countries (although the size of Qatar would make it more noticeable). I still think longterm that hosting the World Cup would be a very mixed blessing.
Having a US base here is a savvy move, because either its a US presence or an Iranian one. But I wonder how long term it will be now that the Americans are reducing the army presence here (due to the reduction of US troops in Iraq) and consolidating the air and army bases. So long as Iran and the US don't get along, I suppose a US presence here is longterm.
Qatar is diversifying investments to generate sustanable revenue for the long term.
The main issue here is "overbuild" of property. How will they utilise that in the long run, since most of the expats fall into the low to middle earnings level.
That is the reason they brought US military here and offered to build the base, because people will be less willing to destabilise the political system if they know America is in the country. Most qataris dont want a world cup here and even 50 years from now it will be the same, so cultural problems will be there.
Winn and Colt45--you are both assuming political and cultural stability for the duration here. The only country this reliant on oil and natural gas for its economy that has managed stability for the duration is Sweden. That is why many refer to the discovery of vast deposits of lng and oil as a "curse".
Maybe it will pan out for Qatar, too, but the historical odds are against it.
that is probably why they don't give two hoots about tourism, unlike Dubai, who don't have it ;-)
Colt: Their natural gas reserves are gonna be there for a long time. By the time thats exhausted, they would have invested that money in huge conglomerates all over the world.
Rishimba, I wonder what other source of revenue will Qatar find once the natural gas gets exhausted... tourism???
there is always a phase in the lifespan of a city when it expands at a considerable pace compared to others.
seems, doha is going through its adolescent stage and thats mainly because of many multinational oil & gas companies getting attracted to the huge gas deposits in qatar.
everything else follows to creat an equilibrium in an economy is the energy resources are acquired..
this growth rate would gradually come down in a few decades when nearly all energy deposits are explored and used up.. but thats not going to happen for the next 20 years or so.
i am sure, qatar will find some other source of revenue once the natural gas gets exhausted.
If Qatar gets the World Cup bid, however, growth will be even more accelerated as it races to build the necessary stadiums and infrastructure.
whew!!!thats great piece of work and observation done and noted..............this is indeed well taken in right spirits towards blooming economy of Qatar and progress made so far.....................this shows where Qatar stands on the globe ranking in terms of infrastructure expansion and business revolution..............
Good spot mate,
just wish that could introduce one such thing to this growing population/economy that no one has thought off...
;-)
You're a pratt...