meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Qatar economy rebounds alongside diplomatic activity

13 January 2025

 

Qatar welcomed some 5.1 million visitors in 2024, the highest number on record and representing a 25% year-on-year increase. But the growing waves of holidaymakers have not been the only notable arrivals of late – regional political figures have also been showing up, as Doha resumes its efforts to resolve the Gaza conflict while also seeking to play a role in rebuilding Syria.

The diplomatic activity comes at a time when the broader economy is emerging from its post-World Cup slump. After the football tournament ended in 2022, there was something of a slowdown, as activity in the construction and services sectors eased off.

According to the Washington-based IMF, real GDP growth fell from 4.2% in 2022 to just 1.2% in 2023. In its latest report on the economy, published in early December, the IMF suggested the rebound had started, with GDP growth of about 2% in 2024/25.

Over the medium term, the IMF expects growth to rise to about 4.75%, helped by a significant expansion of LNG production.

Others take a similar view. On 7 January, Dubai-based bank Emirates NBD revised down its 2024 GDP growth forecast for Qatar to 1.7%, from 2% previously. But it said it expects growth to tick up to 2.6% this year and then accelerate to 4.8% in 2026, as more gas exports come online.

While hydrocarbons will continue to be the most important element of the economy for many years, tourism will play an increasingly important role in economic diversification efforts. 

The country now has more than 40,000 hotel rooms – substantially more than the 31,000 permanent rooms in place when the football tournament was on (augmented by 100,000 temporary rooms on cruise ships and in fan villages and rented homes and apartments).

The number of visitors since the tournament has risen substantially: from 2.6 million in 2022, the figure rose to 4.1 million in 2023 and over 5 million last year. Many more travel through Hamad International airport, which handled almost 53 million passengers in 2024, some 15% more than the year before.

Citizens of more than 100 countries are eligible for visa-free entry to Qatar. That open-minded approach also informs the country’s diplomatic activities.

Diplomatic re-engagement

On 28 December, Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani met a Hamas delegation led by Khalil Al-Hayya to discuss a potential Gaza ceasefire deal. Doha had shuttered its mediating efforts in early November, saying neither Hamas nor Israel were engaging seriously.

In January, the diplomatic activity stepped up further, as indirect talks mediated by Qatar resumed. David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, travelled to Doha, as did US President Joe Biden’s Middle East envoy Brett McGurk. Early reports suggest some progress was being made.

“There are extensive negotiations. Mediators and negotiators are talking about every word and every detail. There is a breakthrough when it comes to narrowing old existing gaps, but there is no deal yet,” one unnamed Palestinian official close to the talks told Reuters.

Activity relating to Syria has been even more pronounced. Unlike some other Gulf states, Doha had resisted the urge to normalise relations with Bashar Al-Assad in recent years, even as many observers assumed his regime had survived the revolution and would continue to hold power in Damascus indefinitely.

As other countries reopened their embassies, Qatar’s remained shuttered. That changed nine days after the Assad regime fell, when the Qatari diplomatic presence in Damascus reopened for business on 17 December. Khalifa Abdullah Al-Sharif was appointed as charge d’affaires.

The new Syrian regime led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) appears warmly disposed towards Doha. Visiting the Qatari capital on 5 January, Syria’s Foreign Affairs Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani described Qatar as “a strategic partner”.

On 23 December, Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi had travelled to Damascus, where he met HTS leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa (better known during the revolution by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad Al-Julani) to discuss bilateral relations.

Among other things, Qatar has been helping to restart operations at Damascus International airport – international flights resumed on 7 January, with the first arrival coming in from Doha (the first departure went to Sharjah). Qatar, along with Turkiye, has also reportedly pledged to supply electricity-generating ships to provide 800MW of power to the country. 

Al-Shaibani’s visit to Doha in early January was part of a wider tour of key Gulf capitals. While in Qatar, he called on Western countries to remove sanctions on his country, saying they “constitute an obstacle to the rapid recovery of the Syrian economy … We renew our demand for the United States of America to lift the sanctions to speed up the recovery and start building the new Syria”.

The following day, the US announced a six-month suspension of sanctions on dealings with the Syrian government. Senior European figures have indicated they could soon take similar steps. Among other things, relaxing sanctions could enable Doha and other Arab governments to help fund salaries for Syrian public sector employees.

The health of Qatar’s public finances means such support is easy to provide. The government has consistently run a budget surplus in recent years, and that is expected to continue. Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani approved the budget for 2025 in mid-December. It includes spending of QR210bn ($58bn) and revenues of QR197bn, pointing to a deficit of QR13bn.

However, UK-based Oxford Economics has pointed out that the figures were based on conservative oil price assumptions. The consultancy expects Doha to actually run a surplus of QR12bn for this year, down from QR25bn in 2024 but still substantial. “These projections underscore Qatar’s fiscal discipline and sustainable policies,” it said in a 19 December report.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13257617/main.gif
Dominic Dudley

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Chinese contractor wins Morocco solar plant deal

    10 August 2026

    China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), has won a contract to build a solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Fez in northern Morocco.

    Known as GreenPower Morocco 4 (GPM4), the project is being developed by Moroccan company GPM Holding through its utility-scale solar subsidiary GPM Parks.

    The project covers engineering design, equipment procurement and installation, construction of an operation and maintenance building, grid connection and commissioning. It also includes upgrades to the associated substation.

    According to CHEC, the completed plant will supply electricity to the local grid, although it did not disclose the project’s capacity or contract value. 

    The project is being developed under Law 13-09, which provides Morocco’s framework for private renewable energy generation.

    According to its website, GPM Holding is also developing another solar PV project called GreenPower Morocco 2 (GPM2). This follows the completion of its first solar project, the 34MW project (GPM1) commissioned in Tangier in 2024. 

    GPM1 was developed by Green Power Morocco, a special purpose vehicle owned by GPM Holding and UAE-based Amea Power. The $30m project covers 75 hectares and includes 91,000 PV panels. It is expected to generate about 66,149MWh a year.

    The project has a 25-year power purchase agreement in place with Amendis, a subsidiary of Veolia Morocco. PowerChina was the main engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.

    Chinese contractors have previously been involved in other projects in Morocco’s renewable energy sector.

    Shandong Electric Power Construction Company (Sepco 3), a subsidiary of PowerChina, was part of the EPC consortium for the 200MW Noor 2 concentrated solar plants and 150MW Noor 3 concentrated solar power projects at the Noor Ouarzazate complex.

    New contract awards have been limited in Morocco in 2026, although six solar PV plants are now in the execution stage under phases one and two of the 305MW Noor Atlas solar PV programme.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18263680/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Aramco puts out fire at Jizan refinery after Houthi strike

    10 August 2026

    Saudi Aramco said it had extinguished a fire that broke out at its Jizan refinery on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast after the facility was hit in drone strikes by Yemen-based Houthi rebels on 9 August.

    The kingdom’s Ministry of Energy said the fire occurred at an Aramco refinery facility in Jizan and that emergency authorities had completed the necessary procedures to deal with the incident.

    The energy ministry did not say what started the fire, saying only that the incident caused no injuries.

    The Houthi rebels later claimed responsibility for the attack.

    The province of Jizan lies close to Saudi Arabia’s border with Yemen and has repeatedly been targeted by the Houthis in attacks on the kingdom’s energy infrastructure.

    The strike on the Jizan refinery was the second attack on the facility by the Houthis in as many weeks. Aramco shut the refinery on 27 July following a similar drone strike, which, according to media reports, damaged the integrated gasification combined-cycle unit and tank farm at the complex.

    On a call with investors to discuss Aramco’s second-quarter results, CEO Amin Nasser said recent attacks on the company’s facilities in the world’s top oil-exporting country had caused some disruption to production, but that he was confident operations could be restored quickly. He said the attacks had had no material operational or financial impact.

    Jizan refinery complex

    Saudi Aramco’s sprawling Jizan refinery complex entered operations in 2021.

    Aramco undertook the estimated $16bn-plus project in late 2010. The scheme consists of a refinery with an output capacity of 400,000 barrels a day (b/d), a major marine terminal and a 4GW combined-cycle power plant in Baish, in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Jizan region.

    The Jizan refinery covers an area of 12 square kilometres. The complex processes Arabian Heavy and Arabian Medium crude grades to produce 80 million b/d of gasoline, 250 million b/d of diesel and more than 1 million tonnes a year of petrochemical products such as benzene and paraxylene.

    A multiple-pier marine terminal supports the supply of crude oil from oil fields located mainly in the kingdom’s Eastern Province to the refinery, as well as the export of surplus refined products to overseas markets. The terminal has been designed to accommodate very large crude carriers.

    A 4,000MW combined-cycle power plant uses approximately 90,000 b/d of vacuum residue from the refinery to generate electricity, hydrogen and water for the refinery, while conveying excess power to the national grid.

    The hydrocracker unit comprises two parallel trains with a combined capacity of 54,500 b/d. The diesel hydrotreater plant comprises two trains, each with a capacity of 87,500 b/d.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18262347/main.jpg
    Indrajit Sen
  • Shamal picks Dutco for Dubai Zoo site homes

    10 August 2026

    Dubai-based Shamal Holding has awarded local contractor Dutco Construction the main construction works contract for a low-rise residential project on the site of the former Dubai Zoo in Jumeirah 1.

    The project will comprise 90 low-rise homes and is designed as a residential leasing community that will remain under Shamal’s ownership, with all homes offered for premium leasing.

    The development will retain mature trees from the former zoo and is planned around shared courtyards, landscaped open spaces and a central park. Residents will have access to a clubhouse, wellness area, children’s play area, family pool, lounge and gym.

    The architect is DXB Lab. The local H&H is the development manager for the project.

    Dutco has previously worked with Shamal on infrastructure elements of the Dubai Harbour and Dubai Harbour Marinas developments.

    Shamal’s wider real estate portfolio includes the Naia Island, Dubai Harbour and Nad Al-Sheba Gardens developments. The company also holds hospitality and leisure assets, including partnerships with Jumeirah, Hilton and Baccarat, and operates attractions such as Skydive Dubai and Deep Dive Dubai.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18262386/main.png
    Colin Foreman
  • WEBINAR: Mena Oil & Gas Projects Market 2026-27

    10 August 2026

    Webinar: Mena Oil & Gas Projects Market 2026-27 
    Thursday 27 August 2026 | 11:00 AM GST  |  Register now

    Agenda:

    • Summary of the Mena oil, gas and petrochemicals projects market 
    • Overview of major megaprojects, including project programmes
    • Analysis of active contracts and spending to date
    • Review of top contracts by work already awarded
    • Long-term capital expenditure outlays and forecasts
    • Key contracts expected to be tendered and awarded over the next 18 months
    • Leading clients, contractors and market participants
    • Spending by segment: oil, gas and petrochemicals (upstream, downstream, onshore and offshore) 
    • Audience Q&A 

    Hosted by: Indrajit Sen, MEED’s oil & gas editor

    Click here to register

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18260597/main.gif
    Indrajit Sen
  • Spanish firm renews Yanbu desalination O&M contract

    10 August 2026

    Spain’s Aqualia has announced it has renewed a contract to operate and maintain three floating desalination plants in Yanbu on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast.

    The contract was awarded by the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) and will run until 14 September 2028, with an option to extend for a further two years.

    The three reverse osmosis (RO) plants are mounted on barges and have a combined production capacity of 150,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d). Each plant has a capacity of 50,000 cm/d.

    The three plants were originally deployed at Al-Shuqaiq and are designed to be relocated along Saudi Arabia’s coastline according to water demand. The barges are currently located at Yanbu.

    The $255m floating desalination project was commissioned for the Saudi Water Authority in 2022, with Bahri as the developer and UAE-based Metitio as the main contractor.

    Bahri is publicly listed on the Saudi Exchange but has significant government ownership, with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) holding 22.5% and Saudi Aramco Development Company owning 20% of the company.

    Aqualia is providing operation and maintenance services in Saudi Arabia through its joint venture Haji Abdullah Alireza Integrated Services Company (Haaisco), in which it holds a 51% stake.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/18259350/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall