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 Country Report -­‐ Qatar -­‐ HyoWon Jin Qatar, also known as the State of Qatar, is a rapidly developing country in the Middle East. The image below is the map of Qatar. Map of Qatar (image). (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2010, from AMEinfo.com website:
http://www.ameinfo.com/qatar_map/
There are many factors that prove that Qatar is a More Economically Developed Country, but admittedly, there are still some problems often seen in Less Economically Developed Countries. Therefore, I can conclude that Qatar is showing very rapid economic development and is almost a Most Economically Developed Country LEDC Factors Admittedly, there are factors in Qatar that are often seen in LEDCs. Firstly, as of 2007, the literacy rate in Qatar is 93.1%. This means that 93.1% of the people over 15 year-­‐old can read and write. This is not high at all. Compared to other MEDCs, the statistic is very low. However, as the graph below shows, the literacy rate in Qatar is showing a great improvement in past few decades. Literacy Rate (%) in Qatar Literacy Rate (%) 95 90 85 80 75 70 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 Year The government is very supportive on the education in Qatar, and every child has free education from kindergarten to high school and is required to attend the education. The government is spending 19.6% of its budget on education for the citizens. Supreme Education Council directs and controls entire education of the country, from the pre-­‐school level through the university level, and makes sure that all students are able to take high-­‐quality education. Also, there aren’t many Internet users in Qatar. As of 2008, about 436,000 people had access to the Internet. Considering that approximately 824,800 people lived in Qatar in 2008, that means only 53% of the population has access to the Internet. This number is very low, compared to Japan having 72% of the population having access to the Internet as of 2008. This might signify the gap between the rich and the poor in the population of Qatar. The wealthy people are extremely rich, while there are many people are very poor. This leads to huge inequality and gap between the rich and the poor. These problems cannot be easily seen through the statistics, because the statistics are an averaged number. Just like these, there are several LEDC factors seen in Qatar. However, there are many other qualities that strongly suggest that Qatar is a country that is very close to being a MEDC. MEDC Factors To begin with, Qatar has second highest GDP per capita in the world, which is $121,000. Even in this worldwide economic crisis, Qatar is showing continuous growth, economically, as the graph below shows. GDP per capita (in 1000 dollars) GDP per Capita in Qatar 125 120 115 110 105 100 2007 2008 2009 Year A consistent growth is shown ever year, and the current GDP growth in Qatar is 9.5%, the world’s second highest. The GDP growth rate decreases every year, once been 17.3% in 2007, but it is hard to have high GDP growth when the GDP itself is really high. This high GDP per capita and GDP growth would definitely be affected by its high investment. Qatar receives investment of 39.7% of GDP, which is approximately, 40.0 billion dollars. 39.7% of GDP of investment is the world’s fourth highest. People prefer to invest on Qatar, guaranteeing its economic stability and predicting its further economic growth. Government has expanded exploration projects in oil and gas fields, and offered incentives to attract foreign investors to carry out similar projects in Qatar. The government has also implemented an economic policy in public expenditure and diversified sources of national income to include non-­‐oil sources, trying not only to reply on its rich natural resources. As a result, it has experienced great economic improvement. One of the factors that influenced Qatar’s economic development is its economic freedom. Its economic freedom score proves that Qatar is a MEDC. As of 2010, Qatar’s economic freedom score is 69.0 out of 100, 39th freest economy in the world. The image below shows the comparison of Qatar’s economic freedom score with the rest of the world. Qatar information on economic freedom. (image) (2010). Retrieved December 17, 2010, from 2010 Index of Economic
Freedom website: http://www.heritage.org/Index/country/Qatar
Its score have improved 3.2 points compared to last year, due to notable improvements in the six of the 10 economic freedoms, trade freedom, government spending, investment freedom, property rights, freedom from corruption and labor freedom. Its overall score is above the world and regional averages. Having relatively free economy has lead to great economic development, and the improving economic freedom score also ensures further economic development in the future. The workforce in different sections of the economy shows MEDC factor. A huge portion of the population is working for service, and very tiny portion works in agriculture. This is mostly because the country itself is very small, and is mostly occupied by with. 2.7% of the population is employed in agriculture, 41% in industry and 56% in services, as shown in the pie chart below. Human Labor in Qatar Agriculture Industry Services Most of workers are male, since many male workers have immigrated to Qatar believing for its further economic development in the future. Factors of Production The human resources in Qatar show that Qatar is a MEDC. The human resources in Qatar are heavily skewed for men. Population Pyramid of Qatar (image). (2010). Retrieved December 10, 2010, from NationMaster.com website:
http://www.nationmaster.com/country/qa-qatar/Age-_distribution
As you can see, in 1990, the population of male aged 25 to 50 are almost twice or three times as many as the female population in the same age. At this point, the economy of Qatar started to become very stable and started to grow in rapid pace. In addition, even though the economy is growing, the population is so small, so there are many work or job available in the country. This led to increasing number of immigrants into Qatar, and added on to its labor force. As of 2010, the sex ratio of population 15 to 64 years old is 2.44 males to 1 female, meaning there are 2.44 times as many males in Qatar compared to females in Qatar. This growing number of employees proves that Qatar is definitely developing in rapid pace. In addition, as I previously explained, the education in Qatar is improving by a lot. The government is putting great emphasis on the importance of education and is trying to improve the current education curriculum of the country. The current workforce might not be as good compared to other MEDCs, but definitely, their future is bright. Huge improvement in the literacy rate proves that the younger population is becoming up more skillful and educated. For sure, the human resources in Qatar proves that it is improving, and its future is very bright as the education in Qatar starts to get better each year, making its future working force much educated and skillful. The capital resources in Qatar also show that Qatar is a developing country, very close to being a MEDC. Recently, Qatar has experienced great increase in Index of Industrial Production. Capital resources in Qatar are liquefied natural gas, crude oil production and refining, ammonia, fertilizers, petrochemicals, steel reinforcing bars, cement and commercial ship repair. In July 2010, the industrial growth has increased from 7.2% to 13.8% in a year, so as 63% jump in capital goods production. The industrial production growth rate in Qatar is the highest in the world, and having this high growth rate is ridiculous considering the worldwide economic crisis that has damaged the businesses all over the world. On the other hand, the transportation in Qatar is still in the process of development. As of 2010, they currently have six airports, 4 with paved runways and 2 with unpaved runways. The quantity looks very small, but considering the small size of the country, six airports seem enough. However, the public transportation is mostly controlled by Mowasalat, a company that is managed and operated by the state authorities to ensure the smooth provision of “integrated ground transport services” for the entire country. Due to this movement, the number of taxis is not enough that they cannot catch up with the actual demand from the increased population. The public transportations are not as developed as the other MEDCs. Natural resources in Qatar are definitely supporting Qatar’s growing economy, and prove that Qatar is almost a MEDC. Qatar is oil-­‐ and gas-­‐rich country. It is said that oil and gas account for more than 50% of the country’s GDP, roughly 85% of export earnings and 70% of government revenues. As of January 1, 2010, Qatar believes that they reserves 25.41 billion barrel of oil, and they produce 1.213 million bbl a day. Qatar exports 730,000 barrel of oil a day. They have 25.47 trillion cubic meter of natural gas reserved as of January 1, 2010, and 76,98 billion of cubic meter production in a year. At the same time, 56.78 billion cubic meter of the production is exported abroad every year. Until these natural resources run out, the great economic growth of Qatar is guaranteed. The entrepreneurship in Qatar illustrates that the future economy of Qatar is very stable, and it seems like it will continue to show huge growth in the future as well. Qatar will be hosting the World Cup in 2022, and they will be receiving positive economic impact. For the World Cup in 2022, Qatar plants to spend $4 billion on a stadium construction and refurbishment program. However, at the same time, The World Cup is expected to boost the country’s economy, diversifying its investment. To enhance the facilities, a lot of infrastructure project will be in progress. At the same time, the transportation would increase. A second international airport will open in 2012, planning to carry 50 million passengers a year. In addition, a fully air-­‐conditioned rapid mass transportation system will be established. With these improvements made, the tourism in Qatar would greatly develop, leading to further economic development. Conclusion To conclude, Qatar is definitely a country that will soon be a MEDC. They are showing rapid economic development in the past several years, even in this worldwide economic crisis. There are so many factors that prove that Qatar is a MEDC, such as its GDP per capita, GDP growth, labor force and factors of production, but there are still problems that are likely for LEDC to struggle with, like education and Internet users. Although a larger gap between lower and higher class still exists, other problems in Qatar are absolutely improving in rapid pace. They have plenty of natural resources reserved, which back up Qatar’s further economic development in the future. Therefore, currently, Qatar is moving toward being a MEDC, but it is still a LEDC. However, in very near future, it will be a world’s most economically developed country. References
Ahram Online. (2010, December 5). Qatar plans infrastructure projects ahead of 2022 World Cup.
Retrieved December 8, 2010, from Ahram Online website:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/15/1221/Business/Region/Qatar-plans-infrastructureprojects-ahead-of--Worl.aspx
Central Intelligence Agency. (2010, December 7). JAPAN. Retrieved December 13, 2010, from CIA The World Factbook website: http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/
document.aspx?ReportId=121&IF_Language=eng&BR_Country=6340
Central Intelligence Agency. (2010, December 7). Qatar. Retrieved December 7, 2010, from Central
Intelligence Agency website: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/
qa.html
Investment Promotion Department. (n.d.). Economic Stability in Qatar. Retrieved December 12, 2010,
from Investment Promotion Department website: http://www.investinqatar.com.qa/yqatar/
Map of Qatar (image). (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2010, from AMEinfo.com website:
http://www.ameinfo.com/qatar_map/
NationMaster. (n.d.). Qatar. Retrieved December 7, 2010, from NationMaster.com website:
http://www.nationmaster.com/country/qa-qatar
Population Pyramid of Qatar (image). (2010). Retrieved December 10, 2010, from NationMaster.com
website: http://www.nationmaster.com/country/qa-qatar/Age-_distribution
Press Release. (2010, December 6). FIFA World Cup 2022 Award - An impetus to Qatar Economy.
Retrieved December 13, 2010, from Zawya.com website: http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/
sidZAWYA20101205072040/FIFA%20World%20Cup%202022%20Award%20%20An%20impetus%20to%20Qatar%20Economy
Qatar. (2010, December 10). Retrieved December 10, 2010, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar
Qatar information on economic freedom. (2010). Retrieved December 17, 2010, from 2010 Index of
Economic Freedom website: http://www.heritage.org/Index/ country/Qatar
Qatar Samachar. (2010, September 11). Capital goods industry drives IIP to 13.8%. Retrieved December
10, 2010, from QatarSamachar.com website: http://www.qatarsamachar.com/
index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=39482:&catid=143&Itemid=457
Supreme Education Council. (2010, December 12). About SEC. Retrieved December 13, 2010, from
Supreme Education Council website: http://www.english.education.gov.qa/section/sec/
UNESCO. (n.d.). Resources for Education. In UIS Statistics in Brief - Qatar. Retrieved December 10,
2010, from UNESCO Institutes for Statistics website: http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/
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