LyLDLStarting a business in Qatar

Concerns about doing business with Qatar

As places to do business go Qatar is one of the easier locations but that does not mean that there are no issues that will have to be dealt with. There are some concerns that you will have to address before you set up your business. None of these are insurmountable but you should be prepared for them.

The biggest concern that most people will have about doing business in Qatar is the fact that government is not democratically elected. All of the decisions about how the country is run are made by the Emir who has total power. This means that there can be sudden changes in the rules. Things have remained relatively stable in the country but there is no guarantee that this will continue. At some point there will be a new Emir and there is no guarantee that he will continue with the same policies as his predecessor. This can result in changes that put your company out of business.

The other big concern about doing business in Qatar is dealing with the red tape and bureaucracy that you will encounter. Compared to other countries in the region it is not all that bad but there will be more of it than you are likely used to. The government has made efforts to reduce the problems in this regard but they do still exist. You are going to have to be prepared for the fact that you will get caught out by odd rules from time to time.

Finding the necessary employees in Qatar can be a problem for a lot of businesses. The government has taken steps to educate the population so that most Qataris have job skills but the fact remains that the population of Qatar is quite small. The result is that you are likely going to have to import most of your workers. This can be expensive as it will usually take a large salary to get people to be willing to move to Qatar. The cost of living is also quite high which can also be an issue when you are trying to find employees.

For companies that are intending to do business in Qatar over the long term one of the issues that you will have to face is that eventually the oil is going to run out. This will not happen for quite a few years but it will happen one day. How the country adapts when the source of its wealth is no longer there remains to be seen. The government is attempting to diversify the economy but the fact is oil is still by far the biggest part of it. It is very unlikely that they will be able to replace this wealth which does raise questions about what will happen when it is gone.