The peninsula of protectionism

  Qatar’s “open market” is “committed to free trade” and“warmly welcomes foreign investors” to help diversify the economy, according tothe Ministry of Business and Trade’s Investment Promotion Department’s latestreport, “Rise With Qatar”. In other words, very much standard fare forinvestment promotion boards around the world. Despite the rhetoric, while Qatar’s major spending spree oninfrastructure and hydrocarbon projects are certainly generating much interestand opportunities, away from such sectors the options for private investors arerather restricted.  “Opportunities are limited to high level projects like roadsand railways, and while local players can’t do it all there is a need to createspace for private companies to develop,” said Narayanan Ramachandran, head ofadvisory for Bahrain and Qatar at consultancy firm KPMG. “The challenge is thatthe percentage of private activity needs to increase. Government andquasi-government sectors dominate so the private sector needs to grow.” The Qatar Exchange (QE) is still off-limits to foreigners —Gulf Cooperation Council