LyLDLStarting a business in Qatar

What is the political situation of Qatar like?

One of the concerns that people have if they are looking at setting up a business in a foreign country is what the economical & political situation is like. After all a change in the political mood in the country can have a major impact on your business. This is not something that you need to be too concerned with if you are doing business in Qatar.

The political situation can best be described as stable. The country is not a democracy and it is ruled by the Emir. The Emir is both the head of state and the head of government and he has full control over the country. He does however have to answer to the other members of the royal family about his decisions. While the lack of democracy is a problem for a lot of people the reality is that most people in Qatar are a lot better off than those in other countries in the region.

While the Emir does have full power to rule the country there is a consultative assembly. Their role is mainly to act as advisors to the Emir and they are appointed by him. That being said they do have some ability to check the powers of the Emir by ensuring that he does not enact legislation that is too unpopular. While far from being the same as having a democratic assembly it has done a fairly good job of ensuring that the rule of the Emir respects the rights of the citizens.

Qatar has a well established code of laws and trials are generally thought to be fair. The country is ruled by Islamic law so things are more strict than most Westerners are used to but not nearly as strict as you would find in other countries in the Middle East. The press is fairly free, again at least compared to other countries in the region. The general opinion on human rights in Qatar is that they are not as free as people in the West would expect to be they do have more freedom than most other people in the Islamic world.

The political situation in Qatar should not be a major issue that keeps you from setting up a business in the country. While there are certainly some issues that need to be dealt with these are rarely a problem for Westerners. In addition the government has been very stable and has been following a pro business policy for years. Therefore there is no need to worry that there will be a major shift in policy that will affect your business. You should be able to operate your business within a fairly liberal set of rules for years to come so there is no real need to have any major concerns over the political situation in Qatar.