What is unique about Qatar is not that it is among the fastest growing nations in the world or that it has vast reserves of natural gas that have helped its expansion and diversification plans in recent years, but that it has managed to withstand the downturn through its strong economic fundamentals and a prudent mix of fiscal policies supporting a relatively small population of which a large proportion are expatriates. Its construction industry has received a massive fillip from the largely government backed projects and planned diversification projecting Qatar as a global tourist destination along with smart easing of controls on foreign ownership of freehold property to lure the global investors to aid its investment and diversification programmes. The construction industry of Qatar witnessed construction contract awards to the tune of US$20,210 million in 2010, which is expected to increase to US$ 22,149 million by 2012.
The announcement that Qatar will host the 2022 FIFA football World Cup tournament is expected to spur significant investments to spill over to its Construction market. This presents an extended opportunity for global investors and companies involved with construction, property and infrastructure development to assess the potential in investing within this highly stable economy. It is estimated that Qatar will invest around US$ 60 billion to US$ 70 billion in hotel, leisure, tourism, sports, recreational and infrastructure projects as it prepares to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
Under its ambitious Qatar “National Vision 2030” programme, the kingdom has aimed to self sustain its development and provide high standards of living to its people. The “Qatar Construction Industry 2011” report from Ventures Middle East, with its vast experience of tracking projects across the construction industries across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, aims to explore how the country plans to use its ambitious plans to propel the growth of its building construction industry and the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors that drive or restrain the growth of this industry to its maximum potential. These factors are summarized through a probability impact matrix that explains the probability of occurrence of these market drivers and restraints and their impact on the industry in the medium to long term.
The report also provides the latest statistics and forecasts on the construction contract awards in the construction industry and its cross sectors that include buildings, power & water, infrastructure, hydrocarbon and non hydro carbon sectors between 2009 and 2012. The report also includes a listing of the top projects in each segment of the construction market as of January 2011 along with the top clients, consultants and contractors in the industry.
