http://www.zawya.com/middle-east/countries/qataren-usCopyright 2012 Zawya Ltd. All rights reserved.Wed, 16 May 2012 04:03:00 GMT5014476http://www.zawya.com/middle-east/countries/qatarhttp://www.zawya.com/images/newsletter_zawya_logo.gifhttp://www.zawya.com/story/UAE_accounts_for_31_of_GCC_banking_assets-ZAWYA20120516040329/The UAE banks have the largest share of banking assets in the GCC that rose by 8.9% in 2011 to USD 1.46 trillion, equivalent to 106% of regional gross domestic product, or GDP. Wed, 16 May 2012 06:58:05 GMTKhaleej Times ZAWYA20120516040329Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/قطر_المكان_الأمثل_لشراكات_مؤسسات_النفط_العالمية_والوطنية-ZAWYA20120515122050/دخلت قطر للبترول في شراكة مع إكسون موبيل، ومع أكثر من اثنتي عشرة شركة نفط عالمية وشركة بتروكيماويات.Tue, 15 May 2012 13:43:25 GMTAl Arab ZAWYA20120515122050Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/SP_rates_Qatar_Islamic_Bank_AA2_with_stable_outlook-ZAWYA20120515115045/In a move that reflects Qatar Islamic Bank's sound financial position and business strategy, Standard & Poor's recently assigned its 'A-' long-term and 'A-2' short-term counterparty credit ratings to QIB with a stable outlook rating on the long-term. Tue, 15 May 2012 12:51:17 GMTPress Release ZAWYA20120515115045Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Qatar_National_Research_Fund_to_award_USD1405m_to_new_research_projects-ZAWYA20120515120742/Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) announced that it has awarded USD 140.5 million to research proposals that come under the scope of the National Priorities Research Program (NPRP), which has been specifically designed to foster a culture of research in Qatar.Tue, 15 May 2012 12:48:11 GMTPress Release ZAWYA20120515120742Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Dubai_Exports_nets_AED221m_Qatar_deals-ZAWYA20120515043601/Local companies that participated in the UAE pavilion at the recently concluded Project Qatar 2012 exhibition were able to clinch 17 deals worth AED221 million with Qatari and international companies. Tue, 15 May 2012 10:56:02 GMTKhaleej Times ZAWYA20120515043601Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/GCC_to_further_discuss_union_proposal-ZAWYA20120515050433/Leaders agreed to allow more time for further discussions over a proposal to turn the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council into a union, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said after a GCC leaders' summit.Tue, 15 May 2012 10:47:12 GMTThe Saudi Gazette ZAWYA20120515050433Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/BMI_Qatar_Real_Estate_Report_Apr12-pdf_150512094829/BMI’s Qatar real estate report examines growth opportunities and risks in this fast-growing Gulf market. Our 2012 forecasts see a 5-10% rise in rents in the office, retail and industrial rental segments of our three surveyed cities: Doha, Al-Khor and Al-Wakra. The Qatari industrial sub-sector is limited by the shift away from rentals and towards direct development. Qatar’s office and retail segments are growing fast and present bullish medium-term prospects, despite the fact that 2011 saw large falls in rental rates in these segments, particularly in Doha. The tourism sector presents significant growth potential, despite its nascent stage, suggesting that the retail segment will be less likely to suffer from oversupply than the office segment.Qatar has not seen as spectacular a real estate bubble as the UAE, its eastern neighbour. Consequently, it has not had to deal with the challenges of government bailouts and risks of bondholder losses. The Qatari real estate sector features both state-backed and private sector players, with the state-backed Qatari Diar essentially an arm of Qatari foreign investment strategy. As Qatar looks to diversify its economy and shift its reliance away from the hydrocarbons sector, real estate could be well placed to benefit from diversifying investments.The 2022 World Cup presents an obvious bonanza for the sector, although it stands to reason that much growth will be organic Qatari demand, as flows of retail-minded tourists are more likely to be directed to the UAE (primarily Dubai). Despite our in-country sources having limited information on vacancy rates, it is clear that the current effect of hosting the 2022 World Cup is an increase in demand. This, together with tougher lending conditions slowing development projects, should help take up some of the supply in the short term.Given that native citizens enjoy one of the world’s highest per-capita incomes, Qatar has not seen any political unrest inspired by the uprisings seenTue, 15 May 2012 09:45:00 GMTBusiness Monitor International Limited pdf_150512094829Subscriptionhttp://www.zawya.com/story/BMI_Qatar_Petrochemicals_Report_Apr12-pdf_150512094414/BMI View: Although Qatari petrochemicals margins remain relatively healthy and petrochemicals prices are returning to near pre-crisis levels, there is the persistent downside risk that a potential double-dip global recession may impact Qatari petrochemicals production. Qatar is highly exposed to the Asian markets, particularly China, which is its main customer. With the rate of petrochemicals capacity additions slowing following a surge in 2009 and 2010, continued Chinese demand growth should support acceleration in the global petrochemicals trade and support Qatar’s operating rates over 2012 and 2013.However, Qatar’s petrochemicals industry could be threatened if China’s industrial growth dips below an average of 8% over the medium-term. Furthermore, with a surge of new capacity expected in China by 2016, domestic Chinese producers are attempting to add value to production and are focusing on speciality chemicals. China will also leverage its own resources and develop complexes utilising its abundant coal reserves. These developments are likely to reduce China’s reliance on imported chemicals, which could impact Qatar.In February 2012, Qatar Petroleum and Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco), which is 80% owned by Industries Qatar and 20% owned by Total, signed a heads of agreement (HoA) for a 80:20 joint venture (JV), which will produce 1.4mn tonnes per annum (tpa) ethylene, 850,000tpa high-density polyethylene (HDPE), 760,000tpa polypropylene (PP), 430,000tpa Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), 125,000tpa pyrolysis gasoline and 83,000tpa butadiene. The project will use feedstock from natural gas plants at Ras Laffan. Ras Laffan has been chosen as the location for the JV’s US$5.5bn steam cracker following a detailed feasibility study. Completion is scheduled for 2018. Output is destined for export to emerging markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America.In March 2012, Qapco awarded two engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts to TaiwaneseTue, 15 May 2012 09:40:00 GMTBusiness Monitor International Limited pdf_150512094414Subscriptionhttp://www.zawya.com/story/BMI_Middle_East_and_Africa_Food_and_Drink_May12-pdf_150512090206/BMI’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) ratings assess a market’s attractiveness to industry investors in comparison with its peers. The reward part of the rating takes into account market size, current consumption levels, future industry growth prospects (based on our five-year industry forecasts), market fragmentation (with greater fragmentation indicating higher opportunities) and the size of the youth population. Meanwhile, the risk part of the rating takes into account the legislative environment, the level of development of the organised retail sector (with higher development leading to lower risks), as well as relevant aspects of the economic and political environment.Tue, 15 May 2012 08:58:00 GMTBusiness Monitor International Limited pdf_150512090206Subscriptionhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Pure_Gold_revenue_climbs_20_in_Q1-ZAWYA20120515043337/Pure Gold Jewellers announced that its first-quarter revenue increased 20% compared to the corresponding period last year, with 28% due to higher volume sales in diamond jewellery and around 19% attributed to gold jewellery sales. Tue, 15 May 2012 07:11:41 GMTKhaleej Times ZAWYA20120515043337Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Damas_shares_to_be_delisted-ZAWYA20120515032119/The shares of regional jewellery major Damas International Ltd (DIL) will be delisted from Nasdaq Dubai on June 12, as part of the company's takeover by BidCo, a consortium composed of Qatar's Mannai Corporation and investment funds managed by EFG Hermes, an Egypt-based investment bank.Tue, 15 May 2012 05:49:59 GMTEmirates 24|7 ZAWYA20120515032119Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/GCC_warns_Iran_against_meddling-ZAWYA20120515031111/A consultative meeting of GCC leaders chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah agreed to give more time to work out details of the proposed Gulf Union. Tue, 15 May 2012 05:35:48 GMTArab News ZAWYA20120515031111Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/GCC_assets_surge_USD456bn_in_2011-ZAWYA20120515030757/A surge in oil prices and region's crude production boosted the net foreign assets of Gulf hydrocarbon producers by a whopping USD456 billion in 2011 to record their biggest asset increase since they began exporting oil.Tue, 15 May 2012 05:28:34 GMTEmirates 24|7 ZAWYA20120515030757Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Qatar_Airways_in_strategic_alliance_with_Flexjet-GN_14052012_150538/Qatar Airways yesterday said it has signed a “strategic alliance” with fractional jet programme provider Flexjet, a unit of Canadian planemaker Bombardier, in order to expand its private jet business.Tue, 15 May 2012 05:16:29 GMTGulf News GN_14052012_150538Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Qatar_Airways_puts_Bombardier_Cseries_talks_on_hold-ANA20120514T131246ZTXT99/Qatar Airways said it had put on hold negotiations with Canadian planemaker Bombardier over the purchase of its new CSeries craft as the airline deals with other issues.Tue, 15 May 2012 05:05:50 GMTAFP ANA20120514T131246ZTXT99Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Dubai_Exports_returns_from_Project_Qatar_2012_with_deals_worth_AED221m-ZAWYA20120514095052/Local companies that participated in the UAE pavilion at the recently concluded Project Qatar 2012 exhibition were able to clinch 17 deals, together worth AED221 million, with Qatari and international companies.Mon, 14 May 2012 10:51:42 GMTPress Release ZAWYA20120514095052Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Gulf_union_to_top_summit_agenda-ZAWYA20120514031414/Foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) met here yesterday to draw up the agenda for the consultative meeting of the GCC heads of state.Mon, 14 May 2012 06:31:49 GMTArab News ZAWYA20120514031414Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Bahrain_PM_for_Gulf_union_opposition_wants_referendum-ANA20120513T145914ZTVD42/Bahrain's premier has backed Saudi Arabia's plan for the creation of a Gulf union, a report said, but the nation's Shiite opposition is demanding the proposal be put to a referendum.Mon, 14 May 2012 05:36:05 GMTAFP ANA20120513T145914ZTVD42Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/QNB_Group_Food_prices_are_high_globally_and_trending_up_in_the_GCC-ZAWYA20120513060841/Despite a slight easing in April, the price of food in global commodity markets remains near historic highs. In the GCC, retail food prices continue to trend upwards. QNB Group notes that the global food crisis that began in 2007 may be far from over.Sun, 13 May 2012 06:16:13 GMTPress Release ZAWYA20120513060841Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/GCC_eyes_high_commission_to_boost_integration-GN_12052012_130538/The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are expected to adopt tomorrow a proposal to establish a high commission to coordinate the decisions by the six member states, a Saudi daily reported.Sun, 13 May 2012 05:58:14 GMTGulf News GN_12052012_130538Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Gulf_leaders_to_mull_Saudibacked_union-ANA20120513T030713ZTUF51/Gulf leaders at a meeting in Riyadh on Monday will discuss a Saudi proposal to develop their six-nation council into a union, likely to start with the kingdom and unrest-hit Bahrain, officials said.Sun, 13 May 2012 04:53:59 GMTAFP ANA20120513T030713ZTUF51Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Gulf_leaders_to_discuss_BahrainSaudi_union_minister-ANA20120512T130852ZTTB38/Gulf leaders will discuss a proposal for a closer political union among them that could begin with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, the Bahraini information minister said.Sat, 12 May 2012 13:57:08 GMTAFP ANA20120512T130852ZTTB38Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/بدء_المناقشات_لتأسيس_بنك_اسلامى_في_قطر_برأسمال_مليار_دولار-ZAWYA20120512080350/سيبدا البنك مرحلته الاولى براسمال مدفوع من قطر بقيمة 300 مليون دولار والبنك الإسلامي للتنمية وبنك البركة بقيمة 200 مليون دولار.Sat, 12 May 2012 08:34:34 GMTAl Sharq ZAWYA20120512080350Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/استثمارات_جديدة_لـالديار_القطرية_في_تونس-ZAWYA20120512080520/بدأت شركة الديار القطرية اتخاذ اجراءات إعادة الاستثمارات الى تونس من خلال مشروعي مصفاة الصخيرة ومشروع توزر السياحي.Sat, 12 May 2012 08:31:20 GMTAl Sharq ZAWYA20120512080520Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/EFG_ties_knot_with_Qinvest-ZAWYA20120512061106/EFG-Hermes, Egypt's largest investment bank, has sealed a deal with the Qatari Qinvest, owned by the Qatar Islamic Bank, to form a regional investment bank.Sat, 12 May 2012 08:29:11 GMTAl Ahram Weekly ZAWYA20120512061106Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/قطر_تعتزم_استثمار_17_مليار_دولار_في_السياحة-ZAWYA20120511125224/ تمكنت قطر من الحفاظ على مكانتها كوجهة رئيسة لكبرى الشركات الإنشائية العالمية وأبرز المطورين العقارين والمعنيين بقطاع الهندسة.Sat, 12 May 2012 07:29:15 GMTAl Kuwaitiah ZAWYA20120511125224Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/إمباور_الإماراتية_تنوي_امتلاك_مؤسسة_تبريد_مناطق_قطرية-ZAWYA20120512044602/إن مستقبل قطاع التبريد في قطر ومنطقة الخليج واعد جدا وينتظره مزيد من الاستثمارات الضخمة والناجحة.Sat, 12 May 2012 07:27:05 GMTAl Arab ZAWYA20120512044602Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/الكمالي_6_مليارات_ريال_مستوردات_قطر_من_دبي-ZAWYA20120512044828/كشف محمد علي الكمالي مدير إدارة تطوير أسواق التصدير بمؤسسة دبي لتنمية الصادرات أن حجم الصادرات إمارة دبي إلى قطر بلغت 6 مليارات ريال بنهاية العام الماضي تركزت في العديد من القطاعات أهمها قطاع مواد البناء والإنشاءات الذي استحوذ على 384 مليون ريال من مجمل حجم الصادرات.Sat, 12 May 2012 07:22:30 GMTAl Arab ZAWYA20120512044828Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Indian_state_attracting_more_GCC_tourists-ZAWYA20120512040112/In a bid to attract holidaymakers here in the UAE, the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh launched a tourism campaign to increase its GCC market share.Sat, 12 May 2012 06:52:04 GMTKhaleej Times ZAWYA20120512040112Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Fitch_affirms_Commercial_Bank_of_Qatar_at_A-24by7_110520121527051/Fitch Ratings has affirmed Commercial Bank of Qatar’s (CBQ) long-term issuer default rating (IDR) at ‘A’ and short-term IDR at ‘F1?. The outlook on the long-term IDR is stable.Sat, 12 May 2012 04:42:38 GMT24X7 News 24by7_110520121527051Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Qataris_buy_stake_in_Shell-20120511_13001_8824/Qatar's sovereign wealth fund has bought a stake in Royal Dutch Shell as part of a drive to invest the emirate's vast gas wealth in western assets.Sat, 12 May 2012 04:40:56 GMTFinancial Times 20120511_13001_8824Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Qatar_Verdict_against_busted_bank_officials_upheld-ZAWYA20120511062918/The QFC Regulatory Tribunal has upheld QFC Regulatory Authority's disciplinary action against two former employees of Al Mal Bank.Fri, 11 May 2012 12:19:20 GMTThe Peninsula ZAWYA20120511062918Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/QNBN_Vodafone_sign_wholesale_deal-ZAWYA20120511062430/The Qatar National Broadband Network(Q.NBN)and Vodafone Qatar have signed an interim wholesale agreement that would initially provide high-speed fibre network broadband services to customers in Barwa City and Barwa Commecial Avenue.Fri, 11 May 2012 10:51:19 GMTThe Peninsula ZAWYA20120511062430Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Qatar_Cabinet_okays_budget_estimates-ZAWYA20120511062354/The Cabinet approved the budgetary estimates for 2012-13 at its weekly meeting and referred the draft of the outlays for public spending to the Advisory Council for its recommendations.Fri, 11 May 2012 10:50:42 GMTThe Peninsula ZAWYA20120511062354Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/CMC_ties_with_Ashghal_hit_rough_weather-ZAWYA20120511062327/The bonhomie that long existed between the Central Municipal Council (CMC) and the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) seems to be over with the former firing a fresh salvo at the latter -- this time over not taking it into confidence over its future projects.Fri, 11 May 2012 10:49:32 GMTThe Peninsula ZAWYA20120511062327Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Common_GCC_market_likely_in_next_two_years_Official-ZAWYA20120511061916/The head of a visiting Saudi trade delegation says that he finds it strange that while the GCC leaders have given their go-ahead for businesses from one member state to have operations in all other states, the ministers and bureaucrats of these countries were stalling the process.Fri, 11 May 2012 10:48:15 GMTThe Peninsula ZAWYA20120511061916Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/First_RasGas_QFlex_vessel_delivers_LNG_in_Barcelona-ZAWYA20120511061846/RasGas Company Ltd (RasGas) achieved yet another successful milestone when the first Q-Flex vessel delivered Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) at the Barcelona LNG receiving terminal, Spain. Fri, 11 May 2012 10:47:38 GMTThe Peninsula ZAWYA20120511061846Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Iranian_rail_firms_seek_foothold_in_Qatar-ZAWYA20120511061811/Iran has a fairly huge rail system and companies that specialise in the construction of rail networks, so given an opportunity these firms could play a major role in the construction of rail and metro networks in Qatar and rest of the GCC, according to a senior official from Iranian Railways.Fri, 11 May 2012 10:46:53 GMTThe Peninsula ZAWYA20120511061811Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Qatar_to_invest_USD17bn_in_hospitality_sector-ZAWYA20120511061624/Qatar is set to invest an estimated $17bn on tourism-related infrastructure projects overseen by Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) in the next five years. Fri, 11 May 2012 10:42:52 GMTThe Peninsula ZAWYA20120511061624Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Emerson_eyes_USD120bn_worth_projects_in_oil_and_gas_sector-ZAWYA20120511061550/Despite Qatar's plans to diversify its hydrocarbon-powered economy, the country will see the launch of at least 80 varied projects- worth USD120bn- in oil & gas sector in the next seven to ten years, an industry expert has said.Fri, 11 May 2012 09:02:24 GMTThe Peninsula ZAWYA20120511061550Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/SMEs_sector_in_Qatar_poised_for_big_gains_KPMG_study-ZAWYA20120511060542/Qatar's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector has contributed 28% in the economy followed by the industries sector with 16%. While the hydrocarbon revenues still remain the highest contributor in the country's GDP at 55%, said a recent study conducted by KPMG group.Fri, 11 May 2012 08:59:43 GMTThe Peninsula ZAWYA20120511060542Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Byblos_Bank_Country_Risk_Weekly_Bulletin_10May12-pdf_110512081905/This is a PDF report. Fri, 11 May 2012 08:17:00 GMTByblos Bank pdf_110512081905Subscriptionhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Qatar_Petroleum_to_sign_USD2bn_worth_Tunisian_refinery_deal-KUN0065120510210000/Tunisia said it resumed contact with the state-owned Qatar Petroleum, over the latter's USD 2 billion investment in Skhira refinery, south east of Tunisia.Fri, 11 May 2012 06:05:15 GMTKUNA (Kuwait News Agency) KUN0065120510210000Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/QNB_Weekly_Market_Report_10May12-pdf_110512052415/This is a PDF report. Fri, 11 May 2012 05:23:00 GMTQNB Financial Services pdf_110512052415Subscriptionhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Al_Shall_Qatar_Weekly_Economic_Report_10May12-pdf_100512133907/This is a PDF report. Thu, 10 May 2012 13:37:00 GMTAlShall Consulting Company pdf_100512133907Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Arab_world_population_to_double_by_2050_report-ZAWYA20120510065915/The urban population of the Arab States, which already quadrupled between 1970 and 2010, will more than double by 2050, according to the United Nations Human Settlements Programe's (UN-Habitat) new report.Thu, 10 May 2012 09:15:18 GMTJordan News Agency - Petra ZAWYA20120510065915Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/Qatar_International_Court_and_Dispute_Resolution_Centre_announces_new_President-ZAWYA20120510064215/The Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre (QICDRC) has announced that The Rt Hon the Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers will replace The Rt Hon the Lord Woolf of Barnes as President of the Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre (QICDRC).Thu, 10 May 2012 09:12:24 GMTPress Release ZAWYA20120510064215Openhttp://www.zawya.com/story/قطر_تستثمر_17_مليار_دولار_لتحديث_البنية_السياحية_حتى_2017-ZAWYA20120510061618/تمكنت قطر من الحفاظ على مكانتها كوجهة رئيسة لكبرى الشركات الإنشائية العالمية وأبرز المطورين العقاريين والمعنيين بقطاع الهندسة.Thu, 10 May 2012 08:31:58 GMTAl Arab ZAWYA20120510061618Open