Qatar is an independent state in the Southern Arabian Gulf surrounded by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Iran. The country is situated midway along the western coast of the Arabian Gulf between latitudes 24.27º - 26.10º North and longitude 50.45º - 51.40º East. Qatar’s area is 11,437 square kilometers, projecting northward about 160 kilometers into the Gulf. The coastline is 563 kilometres long and bounds the country to the west, north and east.

Public finance figures for the GCC countries indicate that, in aggregate, these countries have fiscal reserves reinstate the confidence of continuing economic growth and build up of productive assets and social infrastructure. The governments across GCC states are investing in expanding capacity in the oil sector from the wellhead through refining to downstream petrochemicals units. They have also committed to infrastructure projects such as sea-port and airport expansion, power generation, water treatment, housing, roadways and the much talked-about GCC railroad. Economist have estimated that there are currently taking place across Middle East. The demographics of the GCC countries is characterized by more than 3% annual population growth, and a young age profile. 30% of the population is estimated to be below 15 years of age. These two factors bode well for the demand led growth of trading, retail, consumer finance, telecommunication, healthcare and education services. At the same time, the strong growth in infrastructure and real estate build-ups is promoting construction linked industries in the region, such as, building materials manufacturing, contracting and engineering services, and other light industries.

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK IN THE REGION

The economies of the Gulf Cooperation Council ‘GCC’ have significantly benefited from the buoyant oil prices since 2003. The gross domestic product ‘GDP’ of the GCC Countries, namely; Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates & Oman – recorded growth in the high teens during this period. The high oil prices boosted government revenues and subsequently state expenditure, leading to mega infrastructure start up and a general condition of increased liquidity in the economy. This increased liquidity in turn has triggered consumer spending across the board, with the biggest beneficiaries are telecommunication companies, trading and logistics houses, real estate developers and banks. Per capita GDP in the GCC countries is the highest among the emerging markets. GCC citizens own more than US$ 1 trillion assets held abroad in global financial systems. The demography is skewed towards the younger age groups, has created a perfect ambiance for consumption led growth.

DEMOGRAPHICS OF QATARI POPULATION

According to the 2004 census, Qatar’s population reached 744,029 increasing by 42.5% from the 1997 census of 522,023. As per the 2004 census, 45.7% of the total population resided in Doha, while 36.7% of the population resided in Al-Rayyan. The 2004 census shows an average annual increase of 5.3% during the period 1997-2004, compared to the annual average increase of 3.7% during 1986-1997. The rapid increase in population over the last few years is attributed to the strong performance of the economy, which has resulted in a large number of projects coming online, thereby leading to the influx of professionals, service and contracting sector staff and others. It is estimated that the total population of Qatar will reach 885,000 by year-end 2005, and a forecasts total population to reach 910,000 by year-end 2006. The 2004 population census breakdown by gender shows that males accounted for 66.7% of the total population. This major gender imbalance is due to the growing number of expatriates, especially single males.