Qatar Envoy Says Economic Policy Flexible Despite Siege

The Qatari economic approach has proved its flexibility despite the unjust siege imposed on the country that violates all international laws and regulations, ambassador of Qatar to Germany, Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, said.

The ambassador made the remarks during a lecture he gave in Hamburg at the invitation of Hamburg Chamber of Commerce and the Euro-Mediterranean-Arab Association, Menafn reported.

The ambassador said Qatar has benefited from its experience facing the unjust siege and has been able to draw the right lessons from the situation, particularly with regard to opening up Qatar’s economy for investments, diversifying its sources of income and achieving economic independence within bilateral relations with other countries based on mutual respect.

Al-Thani explained the economic situation in Qatar, the rich investment opportunities it offers and the safe investment environment it enjoys. The ambassador said Qatar was one of the first oil producing countries in the Middle East and realized early on the need to shift from an oil-based economy to a knowledge-based economy.

Hence, it sought for a long time to diversify the national income sources and merge into the global economy in order to increase the competitiveness of its national economy.

He added that this realization came from a true political will to change economic structures as it is the only thing capable of directing new projects and investments to transition towards knowledge-based economy, which ensures keeping up with the current developments.

Stemming from its national vision, al-Thani said, Qatar worked on providing a suitable investment atmosphere through a series of investment-attracting laws, in addition to the political and social stability the country enjoys and its involvement in strong and balanced relations with all parties, as well as its unique geographic location.

He explained the flexible economic measures that Qatar has adopted in order to stimulate domestic and foreign investments, including the series of legal and legislative upgrades, in addition to supporting projects that aim to localize foreign industries in Qatar as well as those that pay attention to national personnel.

He stressed that Qatar has managed to take advantage of the opportunity that came with the crisis in terms of recognizing the importance of encouraging and strengthening the local product, and reintroducing the Qatari citizen to the local product.

This has led Qatar to learn about the shortcomings and weaknesses, enabling it to successfully take its national decision to work to overcome these obstacles, the ambassador said.