Qatar

• Anthem: «As-Salam Al-Amiri» is the national anthem of the state of Qatar. It was written by Sheikh Mubarak bin Saif al Thani and the tune is the work of Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Obaidan Fakhro. 
• Official languages: Arabic.
• Geographical location: it is a country located in Western Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with neighboring Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf. 
• Administrative divisions: Qatar is divided into eight municipalities. For statistical purposes, the municipalities are further subdivided into 98 zones (as of 2015), which are in turn subdivided into blocks.
• Capital: Doha.
• Governance: the political system of Qatar is either an absolute monarchy or a constitutional monarchy, with the Emir of Qatar as head of state and head of government. Under the 2003 constitutional referendum it should be a constitutional monarchy. Sharia Law is the main source of Qatari legislation according to Qatar's Constitution.
• Population: 2.37 million.
• Currency: Riyal.
• GDP: $166.9 billion.
• Time zone: GMT +3.
• Telephone code: +974.
• Barcode: 634.

Trade and economic cooperation between Belarus and Qatar

Qatar's economic performance:

• GDP — $166.9 billion;
• GDP per capita — $74.6 thousand;
• FX reserves — $256 billion;
• Foreign debt — $23 billion;
• Inflation is up to 3% per year;
• Exports — $77.9 billion;
• Imports — $32.6 billion;
• Unemployment is up to 0.4%.

Qatar's Most Valuable Export Products:

• Liquefied gas;
• Oil and processed petroleum oils;
• Aluminium;
• Nitrogenous fertilizers.

Qatar's Most Valuable Import Products:

• Machinery;
• Vehicles;
• Metal products;
• Food products;
• Wood and articles thereof.

Industry accounts for 75% of GDP, services sector — 25% of GDP and agriculture — 0.1% of GDP.

The country has well-developed oil-and-gas industry, oil refining industry, petrochemical industry, chemical industry, and metallurgical industry, which uses imported raw materials. Although there are a lot of state companies in industry and services, private investments in industry are growing as well.

Extraction and export of gas are essential for nation’s prosperity.

Belarusian exports to Qatar do not have a steady growth trend, because this country has small domestic market and population (2.3 million people).

Dynamics of trade between Belarus and Qatar (in million U.S. dollars)

Belarus's most valuable products, imported by Qatar:

• Potassic fertilizers;
• Edible products of animal origin;
• Apparatus for measuring and checking electrical quantities;
• Tableware and kitchenware of glass;
• Furniture;
• Wood and articles thereof;
• Women's clothing of textile materials, women's clothing accessories of textile materials;
• Other articles of plastics;
• Artificial flowers;
• Underglazed and glazed ceramic tile;
• Sheet piling, angles, welded shapes and sections;
• Screws, bolts, nuts, rivets of iron or steel;
• Aluminium rods and profiles;
• Aluminium structures;
• Other articles of aluminium;
• Padlocks and locks, clasps;
• Frames;
• Keys;
• Bars;
• Sittings of base metal for furniture, doors;
• Tyres;
• Drawing, marking-out, mathematical calculating instruments.

A lot of construction projects are being implemented in Qatar now, for example new blocks of houses in Doha; Lusail City (Qatar's Future City) to the value of $8 billion; infrastructure for the 2015 World Handball Championship and 2020 World Football Championship; subway, railway and infrastructure in Doha at the cost of $26 billion by 2026; one of the biggest transport projects — New Doha Port, estimated to $7 billion; the biggest infrastructure projects — 400 bridges and tunnels, 240 road crossings and 31 other objects.

The building boom in Doha creates favorable working conditions for the companies, producing machinery, equipment, high value-added building materials, food products and etc.

In this respect, Belarus may supply to Qatar the following products:

• high-quality building and finishing materials (ceramic tile, parquet and plywood, doors, wooden furniture, and other high-quality joinery);
• trucks and busses;
• road construction machinery;
• equipment for electric networks and water supply systems (pumps, transformers);
• food products (eggs, cheese, milk concentrated and in powder, poultry meat) and beverages (mineral water);
• consumer goods (bed linen, glass and crystal articles) for hotels and catering companies by the 2020 World Football Championship;
• security equipment by the 2020 World Football Championship;
• IT and etc.

Belarus mainly imports chemical products, which are important for its domestic production (polymers of ethylene) from Qatar.

Belarusian and Qatari companies may cooperate in agriculture, food industry, mechanical engineering, transport, construction industry and IT.

This article has been prepared on the basis of information provided by the National Centre for Marketing and Price Study of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the State of Qatar, and taken from public sources. The information presented herein is for informative purposes only. In this regard, it may be useful for the companies, which have been working in Qatar for a long time, as well as for those, which are going to enter this market. Any questions, feedbacks and comments concerning this article are welcome. All of them will be fully considered and taken into account, if possible. If you have any information that may be interesting and useful for the visitors of this page, please write to us.

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