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Satyendra Pathak
Doha
Private sector has played a significant role in Qatar’s economic growth despite volatility in oil prices and economic blockade imposed on the country 18 months ago, Minister of Finance HE Ali Shareef al Emadi said on Saturday.
Speaking at a plenary session on ‘The Growth Potential of Emerging Markets and the Impact on the Global Economy’ on the first day of Doha Forum, Emadi said that Qatar’s private sector grew by almost 6 percent in 2018 despite volatile oil prices.
“Last year we saw outflows of funds after the blockade was imposed on the country in June 2017. The government swung into action immediately and took several measures and succeeded in restoring normalcy in the financial sector. As expected, 2018 turned out to be a good year with most of the growth coming from the country’s private sector,” he said.
Qatar’s public sector institutions including its sovereign wealth fund had injected more $40 billion into Qatari banks during the initial months of the blockade to help the banking sector mitigate the impact of fund outflows, he said.
Despite the economic blockade, he said, Qatar succeeded in holding prime position in the global energy market, increasing connectivity with various parts of the world especially in the emerging economies and investing the country’s surpluses in profitable projects across the world.
Highlighting the importance of emerging economies in driving the global growth, he said, “In 1990s, emerging markets used to account for 30-35 percent of the world’s total GDP. Now they account for 55-56 percent of the total GDP. According to most projections, this number will go close to 60 percent.”
He said that Qatar is playing an important role in supporting the growth of emerging markets as 40 percent of the country’s LNG exports are supplied to such markets.
“Qatar is part of emerging markets and we see a lot of opportunities in these markets to grow our businesses. Qatar Airways has played a big role in reaching out to such markets by flying to more than 100 destinations in emerging economies,” he said.
Turkey’s Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak, who also took part in the plenary session, highlighted various measures taken by Turkey to restore the strength of lira.
Emerging markets are fast becoming drivers of global growth, he said adding emerging markets will generate around 70 percent of the world’s growth in the years
to come.
Taking part in the discussion, Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing said that the next ten years and well beyond global growth will be driven by emerging markets especially China and India.
Over the next decade and beyond, the world’s centre of economic activity will continue to move to Asia, he said.
Doha
Private sector has played a significant role in Qatar’s economic growth despite volatility in oil prices and economic blockade imposed on the country 18 months ago, Minister of Finance HE Ali Shareef al Emadi said on Saturday.
Speaking at a plenary session on ‘The Growth Potential of Emerging Markets and the Impact on the Global Economy’ on the first day of Doha Forum, Emadi said that Qatar’s private sector grew by almost 6 percent in 2018 despite volatile oil prices.
“Last year we saw outflows of funds after the blockade was imposed on the country in June 2017. The government swung into action immediately and took several measures and succeeded in restoring normalcy in the financial sector. As expected, 2018 turned out to be a good year with most of the growth coming from the country’s private sector,” he said.
Qatar’s public sector institutions including its sovereign wealth fund had injected more $40 billion into Qatari banks during the initial months of the blockade to help the banking sector mitigate the impact of fund outflows, he said.
Despite the economic blockade, he said, Qatar succeeded in holding prime position in the global energy market, increasing connectivity with various parts of the world especially in the emerging economies and investing the country’s surpluses in profitable projects across the world.
Highlighting the importance of emerging economies in driving the global growth, he said, “In 1990s, emerging markets used to account for 30-35 percent of the world’s total GDP. Now they account for 55-56 percent of the total GDP. According to most projections, this number will go close to 60 percent.”
He said that Qatar is playing an important role in supporting the growth of emerging markets as 40 percent of the country’s LNG exports are supplied to such markets.
“Qatar is part of emerging markets and we see a lot of opportunities in these markets to grow our businesses. Qatar Airways has played a big role in reaching out to such markets by flying to more than 100 destinations in emerging economies,” he said.
Turkey’s Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak, who also took part in the plenary session, highlighted various measures taken by Turkey to restore the strength of lira.
Emerging markets are fast becoming drivers of global growth, he said adding emerging markets will generate around 70 percent of the world’s growth in the years
to come.
Taking part in the discussion, Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing said that the next ten years and well beyond global growth will be driven by emerging markets especially China and India.
Over the next decade and beyond, the world’s centre of economic activity will continue to move to Asia, he said.
