Qatar Economic Forum discusses massive transformation in economies of GCC states
Qatar News Agency
Doha
A panel discussion was held at the Qatar Economic Forum (QEF) under the title: “Reshaping Middle East Economies” which discussed the massive transformations the economies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have witnessed in the last several years, especially after they made great strides in diversifying their economies to reduce dependence on oil and gas resources.
The panelists highlighted the experience of Qatar and Saudi Arabia in this regard. They reviewed the manifestations of these transformation in numbers, whether in terms of increasing the involvement of the non-oil sector in the gross domestic product (GDP) of these countries, increasing the rates of Gulf women’s engagement in development, or facilitating investment methods in those countries.
Minister of Finance H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari inaugurated the panel discussion and said that the Qatar National Vision 2030 shaped the theme of these transformations in its economic pillar, adding that Qatar has reached an advanced stage of accomplishing this vision and set three phases, the first one focused on investment in infrastructure through Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) which included railway networks, transportation and hosting major sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
After 2022, this economic and social momentum kept focusing on the private sector and economic development centers, including human capital, education, leveraging the cutting-edge technology, environment protection based on sustainable underpinnings and developing other critical sectors, such as industry, tourism and logistical aspects, His Excellency highlighted.
Minister of Finance of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Mohammed Al Jadaan highlighted some achievements as part of the Saudi Vision 2030, highlighting the GCC countries’ economic diversification strategies that go beyond their oil revenues to diversified, sustainable economies that empowers the private sector and youths who know how to use technology, can be entrepreneurs and be future leaders.
He added that Riyadh managed to increase non-oil revenues over the past seven years by 37 percent from 10 percent in 2016 when the Saudi Vision 2030 was introduced. The unemployment rate dropped from 12.3 percent to 7.7 percent and around 2.3 million people were employed by the private sector.
He spoke about the highly important role of tourism to help the private sector grow as part of the country’s vision, yet he added that Saudi Arabia and the whole region is battling shipping industry challenges that need to be solved.
HE Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB), Dr. Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser, spoke about the decades-long GCC strategies to achieve economic diversification and find a unified capital for economic development.
