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Doha works to reclaim spotlight

30 January 2025

Commentary
John Bambridge
Analysis editor

Four years on from the diplomatic crisis in the Gulf, and two years after the 2022 Fifa World Cup, Qatar has appeared in recent years to have lost some of its relevance relative to its larger neighbours, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

As those two countries have pushed forward with ambitious strategic projects and new infrastructure, the trajectory of Qatar has been less clear. Once a prominent diplomatic powerhouse in the Gulf, Doha saw its influence wane in 2017 amid the infighting within the GCC.

But the past 18 months have been a diplomatic redemption for the country, with the instrumental role that Qatar has played in negotiations between Israel and Hamas placing it front and centre of regional mediation.

As a now-favoured ear of the US and meeting place of Hamas officials and Mossad representatives alike, Qatar has regained a measure of its regional primacy – recalling its diplomatic spree in 2008-16, when Doha mediated and forged peace agreements in about 10 regional and international conflicts.

Now, Qatar has mediated two ceasefires in 18 months, with the latter potentially representing the deal that recements regional peace – though this remains subject to the resolve of US President Donald Trump.

Doha’s economic undercurrent is also swelling. The total value of the country’s project awards in 2024, which stood at $18.6bn, beat every other year since 2015 except for 2021, when spending spiked to $27.7bn ahead of the World Cup.

The value of project awards last year also exceeded project completions by $9bn, in a significant expansion of the active value in the market and a highly positive sign for the contracting sector.

There is also a broader, steady resilience to Qatar’s gas-fuelled economy that defies the vicissitudes of its oil-exporting neighbours, with the country maintaining both current account and fiscal surpluses, while steadily etching away at its debt, which spiked in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tourism is an emerging success story for Doha, with visitor numbers surging from 2.6 million in 2022 to over 5.1 million in 2024, and now major new development and touristic schemes – such as the Simaisma project with its 16 planned tourist zones across eight square kilometres – are going ahead.

The newly expanded Hamad International airport, which already handles nearly 53 million passengers annually, will support this, alongside other facets of Qatar’s Third National Development Strategy. 

Altogether, Doha’s new multipronged approach – leveraging a combination of diplomatic soft power, tourism, renewed infrastructure spending and strategic economic planning – appears to be working effectively to reposition Qatar as an adaptive economic and political power in the global landscape.

 

This month's special report on Qatar includes: 

> GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY: Qatar economy rebounds alongside diplomatic activity
> BANKING: Qatar banks look to calmer waters in 2025
> UPSTREAM: QatarEnergy strives to raise gas and oil production capacity
> DOWNSTREAM: Qatar chemical projects take a step forward
> POWER & WATER: Facility E award jumpstarts Qatar’s utility projects
> CONSTRUCTION: Qatar construction shows signs of recovery

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John Bambridge

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