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DOHA
Qatar has withstood the impact of the illegal siege imposed upon it by the Saudi-led bloc and further strengthened its position as a top global destination for investments, says the SAK Holding Group Monthly Real Estate Report issued by its Market Watch Bureau.
Qatar, says the report, has managed to beat the siege by activating structured strategies and pre-emptive plans that it has put in place for many years to address any local or global crises.
Qatar’s determination and wise leadership have failed the attempts of the siege countries to violate the country’s sovereignty and the independence of its national and economic resolve, adds the report.
The resilience of Qatar’s economy and its strategies and calculated plans have bolstered Qatar's position as an ideal destination for investments, helped by confident decisions, legislations and incentives to ensure a safe investment environment.
Qatar embarked on a comprehensive economic development process through an advanced and modern infra-structure, a world class global airport, a mammoth sea port, special logistic and services zones, labor cities, etc. that provide investors with all that they need. The total volume of trade between Qatar and countries from around the world reached QR81 billion riyals in the second quarter of 2017.

SELF RELIANCE
The winds are blowing against the direction of what the siege countries had desired, notes the report, adding that closing of ports by siege countries failed to isolate Qatar or harm its economy or curb the overall development of all aspects of life, nor did it slow down the pace of construction and development projects, especially those related to the 2022 Fifa World Cup.
Qatar, in parallel with the blockade, launched an economic transformation plan that focused on self-reliance in securing all its needs, preserve the independence of production and manufacturing operations, and doing everything necessary to maintain food and medical security in partnership with the Qatari private sector, regional and international partners. Qatar used various options and alternatives to fulfill the needs of the local market and supply it with all types of foodstuff, medicines, raw materials, and building materials. It quickly launched new maritime routes between Hamad Port and numerous ports in countries such as Oman, Turkey and several other countries in East Asia, as also boosting the movement of Qatari imports from around the world.

HAMAD PORT ADVANTAGE
Hamad Port’s unique services, state-of-the-art facilities and ground breaking technology attracted numerous international companies and partners. It encourages businessmen and investors to launch more business ventures, and benefit from linking Hamad Port with numerous international sea ports in order to expedite the arrival of goods in a timely manner at a low cost, to benefit the market, consumer and businessmen, and bring about financial prosperity that is far greater than that provided by the ports of the siege countries. This will reduce the prices of many goods and products, especially building materials. According to the report, the latest available data shows a 31% drop in the cost of shipping by sea after the siege on Qatar, where freight prices dropped to $1,300 for a 40-foot container, from $1,700 at the beginning of the blockade.
After construction materials started flowing into the Qatari market regularly and at reasonable prices, the siege countries began to incur heavy losses because 95% of Gulf companies were operating projects in Qatar. For example, in the field of export, the UAE’s emirate of Fujairah suffered great losses when the emirate stopped exporting to the State of Qatar and lost all its Qatari clients. Al Jabero exports to Qatar accounted for about 90% of its operations. The number of vessels heading from the port to Qatar which averaged about 18 ships per month before the siege, dropped to a ship or two that sailed to countries that do not have mega projects such as Qatar.
The report says that the real estate sector is one of the first beneficiaries of the economic transformation in Qatar and the sector would help reshape Qatar’s main and vital sectors to achieve self-reliance and attain food and drug security.
The report points out that the commodity trade balance of the State of Qatar, which represents the difference between total exports and imports, achieved during August 2017 shows a surplus of QR12.6 billion, recording an increase of QR3.9 billion or 45.4 percent compared to the same month of last year (2016) ), and an increase of about QR0.6 billion, or 5.0 percent compared to July 2017, according to the preliminary report on foreign trade statistics in August 2017, issued by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics on a monthly basis, which indicated that the total value of exports during the month of August amounted to QR21.3 billion, an increase of 17.7 percent compared to August 2016, a rise of 16.6 percent compared to July 2017.
Market Watch Bureau for Sak Holding Group says that the private sector and real estate investors stand to benefit from the opportunities created by the initiatives to eradicate obstacles hindering investment, and the unlimited government support to all economic and productive sectors, including the real estate sector.
Specialized reports issued by international institutions confirm that the Qatari construction market will witness a compound annual growth of 7.65% until 2019. In addition to Qatar's implementation of a number of mega projects with a total cost of QR261 billion, it is expected that more investments will be injected to implement new projects during the current year and in billions of riyals in 2018.
Consumer confidence, says the report, is among the factors that boost Qatar's future growth prospects. It will boost real estate growth in Qatar in the short and long term.
In view of the results of the recent positive report on Qatar's economic growth prospects and job opportunities in Qatar, 33% of respondents in Qatar have seen their financial situation improve over the past six months while 54% expect their improvement in the next six months, according to Bayt.com. Moreover, 52 per cent of respondents said jobs in Qatar are abundant, with 60 per cent are expecting increased employment in Qatar within the next six months.
A study, conducted by Bayt.com, in collaboration with YouGov, a market research organization, noted that in general, Qatar scores high levels when it comes to job satisfaction, where employees express satisfaction with growth opportunities (51%), non-financial benefits (43%) and job security (47%), but satisfaction with their current salaries is lower (42% are satisfied with their salaries).
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02/10/2017
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