Featured by OBG
Qatar is channeling its hydrocarbons wealth into long-term economic transformation, with diversification accelerating after the FIFA 2022 World Cup. In 2024 non-oil sectors accounted for over 60% of GDP, led by tourism, logistics and financial services. Strong fiscal buffers, a US dollar peg and prudent management of the $475bn Qatar Investment Authority support macroeconomic stability. Reforms in labour laws, green investment, and small and medium-sized enterprise development have boosted private sector participation and competitiveness. The trade and investment sector is a key area of the country’s growth due to the government’s ability to leverage associated international exposure to attract higher inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI), aligning with its broader economic diversification agenda. The energy sector continues to be a boon for the economy and FDI inflows due to Qatar’s abundant natural gas reserves and its liquefied natural gas exports. Qatar’s economy is strong and stable, coupled with a population of around 3.1m, endow Qatar with vast sovereign wealth and one of the highest GDP per capita figures in the world.
After facing headwinds such as depressed international energy prices, and rising debt and fiscal imbalances, Trinidad and Tobago’s economic recession appears to be turning a corner, with GDP growth projected to climb to 0.3% in 2017 and 3.4% in 2018. As one of the largest and most diversified economies in the English-speaking Caribbean, the country is beginning to benefit from the new administration’s process of fiscal adjustment and economic diversification, spurred on by an ambitious public works pipeline.
Over the last two decades Peru has been one of the fastest-growing economies in the region. Remarkably resilient to global headwinds, positive GDP growth has continued despite the end of the commodities boom. Yet the growth rate has slowed and the initial impetus of a first wave of structural reforms has faded. The question now is whether the current administration can address problems, implement further reforms and re-accelerate the economy.
While reduced oil prices are undoubtedly a concern for the emirate’s authorities, economic diversification efforts of recent years mean Abu Dhabi is well placed to weather a prolonged period of subdued prices. Vision 2030 meanwhile contains a raft of goals that will further reduce the emirate’s reliance on hydrocarbons, and continue to foster the emergence of a more sustainable and knowledge-based economy in the years ahead.
Positioned between west and east Asia, Sri Lanka sits on a major maritime route between Europe and the Far East and its natural resources have made it a trading centre for millennia.
Following a landmark peace agreement and a late-2016 tax reform package, 2017 looks to be a year of significant promise for Colombia. The country has been in recovery since the 2014 collapse in oil prices, which predominantly affected exports, government revenues and the exchange rate. However, with the external sector acting as a shock absorber, the authorities helped ensure that domestic demand was able to pick up some of the slack.
