Doha – Qatar is a small country on the East Coast of the Arabian Peninsula, with a small population, that is currently greatly dependent on the oil and gas industry and on foreign labour. To guarantee long-term sustainable development, the government of the country has issued a plan that has among its objectives the diversification of the economy and strengthening of the private sector.
But the national strategy does not only involve the economic area, as the country wants to advance in several areas, like culture, communications, sports, education, tourism, air transportation and diplomacy. Some of these initiatives are already well known, as is the case with TV network Al Jazeera and Qatar Airways, the airline that, starting on June 24th, will reach its 91st destination: São Paulo, in Brazil. The ambitions of Qatar go further, and ANBA is going to show that, starting today (24), in a series of articles.
In the cultural area, for example, the Cultural Village was established, an initiative by Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned, the wife of Qatari emir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani. The enterprise, managed by Márcio Barbosa, from Brazil, the former joint director at the Unesco, has as its objective the promotion of local cultural production and the transformation of Doha into a hub in the event area.
According to Barbosa, Cultural Village has the challenge of, on the one hand, preserving the traditions and historic values of the country and, on the other, “offering cultural opportunities”, modern ones through different manifestations, like music, art, theatre and cinema, among others. “The idea is to show that, in culture, the country has a strategy of coexistence of the ancient and the new,” he said.
In sport, Qatar is trying to stand out as the promoter of great international events. In 2006, the country hosted the Asian Games, and, in January 2011, the country should receive the Asian Football Cup. On May 14, the Qatar Football Association (QFA) officially presented its candidacy to host the Fifa World Cup in 2022.
To the Brazilian Caio Júnior, coach of Qatari team Al Gharafa, elected the best coach of the season, the Asian tournament should serve as a test and window to show the Qatari capacity to host events of the kind. Caio guarantees that, for professionals like him, work conditions are excellent and at his club “nothing is lacking”.
In aviation, according to the CEO at Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker, the tendency is for continued growth. The company trusts in the creation of demand with the opening of new routes, as is the case with the new flight from Doha to São Paulo and Buenos Aires.
As is the case with culture and football, Qatari aviation represents a work opportunity for Brazilians. Pilots Cezar Prates and Alexandre Moraes, formerly at Varig, found in the Arab company working conditions that currently do not exist in Brazil. “The Middle Eastern and Asian aviation market is in great expansion,” said Moraes.
In the press, Al Jazeera, according to director general Wadah Khanfar, plans to advance in the release of new channels in different languages, other than Arabic and English, as well as expanding the number of branches, strengthening sports coverage and investing in new medias.
Khanfar also spoke about the country’s diplomacy, which has been successful in mediating regional disputes. “Qatar offers safety to those negotiating as it is has no private interest in the themes in dispute,” he said.
In economics, the strengthening of enterprise is one of the priorities, so much so that the country government recently issued a 2 billion riyal (US$ 550 million) package for incentive to small and medium companies. According to Sarah Abdallah, deputy general manager at the Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA), the oil and gas industry will continue as the most important of the country, but the development of business tourism activities, industry and the banking sector should reduce this dependence.
Qatar is also diversifying its economy on the external area. The local sovereign fund, which has Qatar Holding as its executive branch, is always seeking investment opportunities in different sectors and countries. “We are opportunists,” said the CEO at the company, Ahmad Al-Sayed. Currently one of the points of interest is Brazilian agribusiness. Read more about the matter on ANBA tomorrow (25).
*Translated by Mark Ament
