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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.
The Indonesian government is in the midst of pursuing an ambitious new growth strategy, emphasizing investment over domestic consumption as a primary growth driver in the wake of depressed commodity prices, lagging household consumption and lower-than-anticipated government revenues.
A country of extraordinary diversity, spread across some of the world’s most spectacular, and often inhospitable, terrain, Papua New Guinea today is a country once again at a crossroads. A major economic boom driven by a massive liquefied natural gas project has been swiftly followed by a sharp slowdown as global oil prices fell, and as a result the government has come under some pressure.
With the fall in oil prices underlining the dangers of an over reliance on hydrocarbons revenues, Qatar has continued to forge ahead with its economic diversification drive in 2016. Non-hydrocarbons growth now outstrips hydrocarbons growth, with several big-ticket construction projects, an increasingly dynamic financial services sector and a growing reputation as a tourist destination all fuelling non-oil expansion.
Although low oil and gas prices in 2015 had a negative economic effect on the Trinidad and Tobago, the current government is pursuing a series of reforms aimed at both strengthening the important energy sector and diversifying the wider economy.
Commanding the second-highest GDP per capita of all ASEAN nations, at $40,979 in 2014, Brunei Darussalam remains one of the most advanced economies in the South-east Asian region. This is in large part due to the Sultanate’s well-developed energy sector; however, with oil and gas prices falling substantially from mid-2014, new efforts are being made to increase the efficiency of production and diversify the economy to ensure future stability and sustainability.
