Qatar’s strategically advantageous proximity to major international marketplaces and its vast natural gas reserves position it as an integral component in global supply chains. In light of dwindling investment inflows in recent years, the government is working to streamline business regulation, while the country’s already extensive list of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements are undergoing expansion, a trend which could gather pace given the current shake-up taking place in relation to traditional global trade relations. With demand set to grow for the country’s number-one commodity in the coming years as countries pivot to cleaner fuel sources and boost production of gas-derived chemicals, Qatar’s export and inward investment receipts should rise in turn.
Oversight
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) oversees commercial and industrial activity in Qatar. It is tasked with the development of the domestic business environment, the formulation and regulation of policy aimed at enabling private sector growth, and the expansion of industrial capacity, output and exports. Business licensing and registration procedures are central to its mandate, as is ensuring comprehensive protections for businesses, entrepreneurs and consumers. The MoCI Strategy 2024-30 is designed to keep the ministry’s endeavours aligned with the goals of Qatar National Vision (QNV) 2030, the government’s overarching socioeconomic development blueprint, and the Third National Development Strategy (NDS-3) – a shorter-term strategic roadmap designed to guide broad-based progress towards the realisation of QNV 2030.
The MoCI’s 2024-30 development strategy incorporates a total of 188 projects which are either currently under implementation or in the pipeline. Of these, 55% are to be implemented under the banner of the NDS-3. The complete roster of projects is designed to strengthen the country’s business, trade, industrial, services and consumer ecosystems.
The MoCI is also working to more deeply ingrain digitalisation and innovation into economic, industrial and its own practices, with a focus on sustainability in its multiple dimensions. Reinforcing the country’s foundation of start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and enhancing their engagement with, and influence on, broader economic activity is another important MoCI goal.
The Investment Promotion Agency Qatar (Invest Qatar) focuses on drawing foreign direct investment (FDI) into Qatar’s economic diversification drive, harnessing the facilities offered in investment enablers such as Qatar Free Zones Authority (QFZ), Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) and Media City Qatar to attract foreign businesses. Invest Qatar also works alongside the various authorities established to manage the free zones and the MoCI to improve business processes, and forge bilateral cooperation and investment partnerships (see Economy chapter). Target sectors for FDI revolve around national and societal necessities and align with regional and global economic trends, including logistics, transport, food and agri-tech, emerging technologies and advanced manufacturing.
Public Financing
Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is the country’s sovereign wealth fund and primary investment vehicle, and was valued at $526bn as of November 2024. Since its 2005 inception, QIA has developed a diverse, global portfolio spanning all asset classes and aligning with national development programmes. QIA is influential in driving the country’s economic diversification effort and building a future ready labour force. Its Fund of Funds programme – launched in February 2024 – sees it actively working to reinforce the country’s research, development and innovation (RDI) ecosystem, partnering with international venture capital funds in order to bring them to Qatar, with the target of nurturing the country’s ecosystem of start-ups and entrepreneurs. Half of QIA’s initial $1bn commitment to the fund was channelled to the first cohort of onboarded partners, with the remainder expected to be invested in the second cohort – for which eight venture capital firms were under consideration as of February 2025. Expansion of funding appears likely, with 120 organisations having registered interest as of February 2025. Qatar Development Bank (QDB) also plays a leading role in financing, supporting and training Qatari SMEs and exporters through its Tasdeer platform, which can be accessed through the QDB website.
Investment Ecosystem
A law permitting full foreign company ownership in Qatar was enacted in January 2019. Previously, all companies had to be at least 51% Qatari owned. Foreign investors seeking to establish a business presence in Qatar can either incorporate a limited liability company, establish a branch office, establish an agreement with a local commercial agency, register a trade representative office, or incorporate or register a company in one of the country’s trade and investment zones. Additionally, legislation rolled out in 2020 saw foreign real estate ownership permissions introduced, with the sector ranking second-highest for FDI inflows – behind hydrocarbons by 2022.
In January 2025 the government announced its intention to further upgrade business and investment regulation in order to attract stronger inflows of FDI, amid a recent trend of disinvestment. Three new laws are to be introduced covering bankruptcy, public-private partnerships (PPPs) and commercial registration, with 27 current laws affecting over 500 economic activities under review. The move appears to be a response to dwindling FDI volume in recent years. Having attracted over $76m in 2022, 2023 saw that metric dip into negative territory with more foreign capital moved out of the country than was placed in, leaving a balance of -$474m and a total FDI stock of $27.14bn. Under the NDS-3 Qatar aims to attract $100bn of FDI by 2030.
These updates to investment regulations have enhanced Qatar’s appeal as an investment destination. Continued efforts to streamline business registration procedures stand to further strengthen this progress. At the same time, ensuring transparency and equal opportunity in contract awards and recruitment can help boost confidence among foreign investors and expatriate workers. Clarifying government tender conditions and criteria presents an opportunity to deepen international engagement and foster a more inclusive business environment. It is therefore important that the proposed regulatory upgrades help to enhance investor sentiment and harness the country’s strengths to attract a greater share of the FDI entering the region.
Trade
According to the National Planning Council (NPC), Qatar’s balance of trade for 2023 was QR241.3bn ($66.2bn), comprising total export value of QR355.8bn ($97.7bn) and total import value of QR114.4bn ($31.4bn). The balance of trade contracted by 38.8% in 2024 to QR147.7bn ($40.5bn), a figure composed of exports valued at QR232.8bn ($63.9bn) and imports valued at QR85.1bn ($23.4bn).
China was Qatar’s largest export market, and overall trade partner in both 2023 and the first eight months of 2024, accounting for QR70.1bn ($19.2bn) and QR45.6bn ($12.5bn), respectively. The US was Qatar’s largest import market in 2023 at QR18.4bn ($5.1bn), with China importing the second-most at QR16.8bn ($4.6bn) but was overtaken by China in the first eight months of 2024, which imported QR12.2bn ($3.3bn) while US imports dropped to QR10.7bn ($2.9bn). Between January and August 2024 South Korea, India, Singapore and Japan were Qatar’s next-largest export markets, while Italy, India and Japan were the next-largest import markets.
The country’s top-five exported products in 2023 were mineral fuels and oils, which accounted for nearly 93% of total export value; plastics and articles thereof; fertilisers; aluminium and articles thereof; and inorganic chemicals, organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, rare-earth metals, radioactive elements and isotopes. The top-five categories of goods imported that year were machinery and mechanical appliances; vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock; aircraft, space craft and parts thereof; electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; and pharmaceutical products. The composition of the top-five exports, both in terms of product type and highest values was the same for the first eight months of 2024.Mineral fuels and oils rose to become the top import product in 2023, pushing each of the previous top-four imports down one rank and displacing pharmaceuticals from the top five.
Qatar’s balance of trade with China amounted to a surplus of QR53.4bn ($14.7bn) during 2023, with exports valued at QR70.2bn ($19.3bn). Mineral fuels and oils accounted for roughly 96% of export value to China that year, while machinery, vehicles and metals composed the list of top-three imports, with those lists and trends remaining accurate for the first eight months of 2024.
Trade with fellow GCC countries rose by around 64% y-o-y between January and August 2024, with a trade value of QR35.1bn ($9.6bn), up from QR21.5bn ($5.9bn) during the same period of 2023. Qatar displayed a positive trade balance with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and deficits with Bahrain and Oman. The elevated trade volumes between Qatar and its GCC neighbours displays the strengthening of bilateral ties within the region – following the January 2021 lifting of the three-and-a-half-year diplomatic and economic blockade enforced against Qatar by some neighbouring countries.
Global Demand
Qatar’s natural gas reserves are among the highest in the world, making the country an integral component in global energy value chains, with its exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) also among the largest globally. Decarbonisation agendas in some of the world’s largest energy-consuming countries, most specifically China and India – two of Qatar’s key trading partners – are expected to see global demand for LNG increase steadily over the coming years. Both China and India are moving to strengthen LNG infrastructure, while economic development across Asia has led energy giant Shell to predict 60% growth in LNG demand by 2040, reaching volumes of 630m-718m tonnes per year.
Other factors prompting that forecast include the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the energy sector and global initiatives to reduce emissions in fuel-intensive industries such as heavy industry and transport, with power generation, heating and cooling among the activities set to drive gas consumption. China’s total natural gas imports reached nearly 132m tonnes in 2024, with LNG accounting for 77m tonnes. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency expects India’s gas consumption to rise by 60% from its 2023 level by 2030, doubling the country’s need for LNG. Qatar supplies 45% of India’s LNG consumption, which accounts for half of the $14bn bilateral trade between the two countries. That dynamic is anticipated to be bolstered in light of Qatar Energy and India’s Petronet LNG signing a 20-year LNG supply deal in February 2024. With gas production expected to slow in other production centres such as Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia and Malaysia by a combined 50m tonnes by 2040, Qatar’s reserves – alongside the development of its North Field reserve, the first phase of which is due online by 2026 – and the country’s proximity to other high-usage markets such as the EU, could see Qatar and the US combined satisfy 60% of global LNG demand by 2035.
Investment Zones
QFZ oversees two free zones: Ras Bufontas Free Zone, adjacent to Hamad International Airport; and Umm Alhoul Free Zone, which was developed in tandem with Hamad Port, Qatar’s deep seaport and one of the Middle East’s largest ports. The zones offer physical and digital infrastructure, while investors receive a range of incentives to establish economic activities inside the zones. Those include 100% foreign company ownership, the option to build premises or use existing facilities, corporate tax exemptions for up to 20 years, the removal of Customs duties on imports and access to low-cost energy, with prices starting at $0.35 per KWh.
Free zones are central to the government’s industrial clustering strategy, which is designed to strengthen Qatar’s standing in traditional and emerging global value chains, including those related to energy and emerging technologies subsectors. Ras Bufontas Free Zone offers tailored infrastructure and facilities for businesses focused on light manufacturing, aerospace and defence, and emerging technologies. In addition, Umm Alhoul Free Zone supports organisations that require convenient access to sea freight, including heavy manufacturing, petrochemicals and logistics, among others.
February 2025 saw QC loud, a GCC-based data centre design consultancy focused on the MENA region and a partner with QFZ since 2020, expand its operations at Ras Bufontas Free Zone. Additionally, German drone lightshow developer and event technology specialist Nova Sky Stories established a facility in Umm Alhoul Free Zone in January 2025. US-founded, AI-focused digital engineering firm Quantiphi, and ABB E-Mobility, a multinational electric vehicle charging systems manufacturer, entered the zones in May and September 2024, respectively. A partnership signed in February 2025 will also see QFZ collaborate with the German Mittelstand GCC Office with the aim of plugging German SMEs into Qatar’s free zones and priority industries.
QSTP, another free zone, was established in 2009 in Doha’s Education City – a cluster of schools, training centres universities, research-oriented institutions and companies. QSTP’s aim is to attract world-leading technology firms and promising start-ups to enhance knowledge sharing and strengthen Qatar’s RDI value chains, promoting the integration of emerging and advanced technologies into economic processes. In March 2025 QSTP announced a partnership with oil major Shell with the goal of enabling AI and energy technology advancement, while an array of SME incubator, accelerator, mentorship and funding platforms run from QSTP. Media City Qatar is another catalyst for FDI that is focused on attracting media and creative industries organisations, innovators and start-ups to the country. US television network CNN established a presence in the platform in February 2025, while the first two months of that year also saw partnerships signed with China’s Huawei, Qatar’s Al Jazeera and Singapore’s ONE Championship.
QFC is central to the government’s drive to establish Qatar as a regional financial service and financial technology centre. As of January 2025, 2489 companies operated from the platform, with 836 registering in 2024, a 156% increase over the same period of 2023. QFC’s combined assets under management were valued at over $33bn, with largest number of firms coming from France, Jordan, India, Lebanon, Qatar, Turkey the UK and the US. Meanwhile, the Economic Zones Company, branded as Manateq, is tasked with managing special economic zones. Manateq oversees 13 investment zones, comprising four logistics parks, five warehousing parks and four industrial zones (see Industry chapter).
Trade Agreements
Through participation in Qatar’s economy, investors can benefit from the country’s 109 bilateral and multilateral, trade, Customs, tax and investment agreements, facilitating access to the world’s largest markets. The UK is in the process of negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with the GCC, with bilateral trade between the two regions estimated to grow by 16% annually, adding £8.6bn to the current UK-GCC annual trade value of £57.4bn. In addition, February 2025 saw Qatar and India enhance economic ties. Agreements and memoranda of understanding were signed in relation to a variety of economic activities, while negotiations for a future FTA with the GCC are ongoing. The new agreements are set to see Qatar-India trade double to $28bn by 2030, while Qatar pledged to invest around $10bn in India’s economy.
Customs
Qatar operates under its own Customs law and under broader GCC legislation, with the latter designed to eliminate barriers to, and stimulate deeper, inter-GCC trade. Qatar’s General Authority of Customs (GAC) ensures businesses adhere to the relevant domestic and regional laws when exporting or importing goods through Qatar’s various trading ports. All goods must be listed on a customs declaration form and submitted to the GAC upon their arrival. Most goods are subject to Customs duties based on a percentage of their total value, although goods cleared for free zones and duty-free outlets are not subject to levies. General cargo incurs a 5% levy on its total value, while certain products such as steel (20%), Urea and ammonia (30%), and tobacco products (100%) incur higher fees. The government’s Al Nadeeb digital portal enables importers, exporters and trade brokers to carry out the majority of customs procedures online. Qatar’s import duties are generally fair and supportive of trade, offering a favourable environment for global firms. To navigate occasional complexities in policy and regulation, companies may benefit from working with a local agent to ensure accurate compliance with Customs laws and the proper payment of fees and duties.
Outlook
Qatari authorities have reason to be optimistic, in spite of the recent drop-off in FDI inflows and trade receipts. Indeed, global investors continue to demonstrate appetite for involvement in GCC countries’ diversification agendas where suitable regulations are in place. Qatar’s tax environment, free zone facilities, extensive logistics networks and long-term residency options are bolstered by an expanding list of bilateral trade agreements and economic partnerships, adding to the list of factors that suggest Qatar should see increased investment in its economic development plans in the near term.
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