Doing business in Qatar

Qatar may very well be the wealthiest country in the world, at least on a per capita basis. The country has a small population and not only is it sitting on major oil reserves they have also started to produce natural gas. If that weren't enough they are also perfectly located to be a major trading center. No wonder there are so many companies that want to do business in Qatar.

There is ample opportunity for doing business in Qatar. They have one of the strongest and fastest growing economies in the world. Long a major producer of oil they have now also become a major producer of liquid natural gas. This has kept the economy booming and has created lots of business opportunity. The small size of the country and particularly its small population have made it necessary for Qatar to get help from foreign companies in order to exploit its petroleum resources. This is where most companies that are doing business in Qatar are focusing their efforts but there are other areas that show great potential as well.

There has been a fairly strong need to improve the infrastructure in Qatar and that is one area that a lot of foreign companies are focusing on. The country has already got good infrastructure but with money to spend they are constantly looking to improve them. The other area that shows major growth potential is the financial services sector. With all the money that is flowing into the country there is a need for banks and other financial services to manage that money. In fact one of the difficulties of doing business in Qatar right now is a shortage of banks.

The biggest challenge to doing business in Qatar is the requirement that all business be done as a joint partnership with a Qatari business. Foreign investors can only own 49% of any business done in Qatar and that creates a problem if for no other reason than that there aren't that many Qatari companies to partner with. The other big problem is the inflation and the high cost of doing business. Combine this with the fact that you will likely need to bring in employees from elsewhere because of the shortage of labor and it can be very expensive to run a business in Qatar.

There is an advantage to having to partner with a Qatari company and that is they can help you deal with the cultural differences. There are some major cultural differences between the way things are done in Qatar and the way they are done in the west. The main ones are the slow pace at which things get done and the red tape that you are going to encounter. This can be frustrating and having somebody who knows the ropes can be a huge help.