You can argue back and forth whether or not Qatar wants to be Dubai/Saudi, but the fact is, Qatar wants to attract people to live and invest here. That's why they built the Pearl and all the office towers in West Bay. Qatar wants people to live here.
That being the case, they are doing a really good job of driving them away of late. Each isolated incident may not seem like much, in and of itself, but the sum of all the parts paint the picture of a country that is heading well and truly down the path of being very conservative.
Bars are closing (Rydges, Amigos, Garvey's, Rugby club, the Library bar in Ramada is now closed to the public, etc).
Sheesha is being removed from all the 5 star hotels.
The internet is becoming more heavily censored.
There are talks about how satelite TV can and should be censored.
The Doha Players are being booted from their premises to build yet another shopping center (oh the irony... and meanwhile the NY Times is calling Qatar the cultural heart of the gulf???)
The salary requirements to sponsor your family are set to increase.
Family days are being increasingly strict and applied at a larger number of malls.
The NOC requirements to enter the country were extended to include a further 22 countries late last year.
A MARRIED couple was arrested and deported for holding hands in public.
It just doesn't paint for me the picture of a country that is actively trying to attract and retain a vibrant and diverse workforce.
I thoroughly understand that the Qatari government can and will implement whatever decisions regarding the above, but it all seems quite shortsighted to me when you have billions of dollars at stake in investments in real estate and commercial property.
I'm going to have to agree with Avid on this one.
You can argue back and forth whether or not Qatar wants to be Dubai/Saudi, but the fact is, Qatar wants to attract people to live and invest here. That's why they built the Pearl and all the office towers in West Bay. Qatar wants people to live here.
That being the case, they are doing a really good job of driving them away of late. Each isolated incident may not seem like much, in and of itself, but the sum of all the parts paint the picture of a country that is heading well and truly down the path of being very conservative.
Bars are closing (Rydges, Amigos, Garvey's, Rugby club, the Library bar in Ramada is now closed to the public, etc).
Sheesha is being removed from all the 5 star hotels.
The internet is becoming more heavily censored.
There are talks about how satelite TV can and should be censored.
The Doha Players are being booted from their premises to build yet another shopping center (oh the irony... and meanwhile the NY Times is calling Qatar the cultural heart of the gulf???)
The salary requirements to sponsor your family are set to increase.
Family days are being increasingly strict and applied at a larger number of malls.
The NOC requirements to enter the country were extended to include a further 22 countries late last year.
A MARRIED couple was arrested and deported for holding hands in public.
It just doesn't paint for me the picture of a country that is actively trying to attract and retain a vibrant and diverse workforce.
I thoroughly understand that the Qatari government can and will implement whatever decisions regarding the above, but it all seems quite shortsighted to me when you have billions of dollars at stake in investments in real estate and commercial property.