Qatar established its free zones programme in 2018. Five years on, two free zones are up and running. Ras Bufontas (4 sq km) is connected to the award-winning Hamad International Airport; and the Umm Al Houl free zone (32 sq km), which sits next to the brand-new Hamad Port. Sheikh Mohammed H. F. Al-Thani, the CEO of the Qatar Free Zones Authority (QFZA) tells fDi Intelligence that the country’s free zones offer businesses a way “to hedge their operation in an increasingly uncertain world”. 

Q: What are the QFZA’s priority sectors?

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A: We are particularly focused on seven strategic sectors: emerging technologies, logistics and trading, food and agritech, industrial and consumer, aerospace and defence, biomedical sciences, and maritime development. These build on Qatar’s natural strengths, from the world-class transportation networks and enormous gas reserves that underpin our logistics and industrial sectors, to the strong digital infrastructure and government commitments to digitisation that support the emerging technology sector. These strategic sectors afford us many synergies, as we’re able to support individual companies including Google Cloud, Microsoft, Thales, DHL, Volkswagen and Gaussin, among many others, to achieve their goals, while developing new frontiers for priority sectors in Qatar.

Q: What have been the key achievements thus far?

A: We’ve welcomed more than 400 companies to our free zones to date, with one million square metres of land leased, representing more than $3bn in total investment and creating more than 6000 job opportunities. Beyond the numbers, it’s a pleasure to see our investors scale up and take advantage of all that we have to offer. A great example of this in action is our longstanding partnership with Google Cloud and the launch of the Google Cloud region in Doha, which aims to support Qatar’s efforts in becoming a digital economy and providing opportunities for other investors in Qatari free zones and across the country. Research conducted by Access Partnership revealed that this ambitious project is expected to drive increased economic activity and contribute $18.9bn in higher gross economic output to Qatar’s economy by 2030.

We’re also proud of our longstanding commitment to sustainability, and the various ways we’ve supported both our investors and our country in driving sustainability initiatives. To take just one example: production of the first electric vehicles in Qatar took place at our free zones, as part of a partnership between zero-emission company Gaussin and QFZA. These vehicles are now in operation at Hamad International Airport and Hamad Port, helping to reduce carbon emissions and accelerate Qatar’s national ambition for electric vehicle adoption in the public transport network and wider mobility sector.

Q: Competition for FDI in the region has been heating up. What is the competitive advantage of Qatar’s free zones?

A: Every one of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries has something unique to offer investors. That’s why we don’t view ourselves as in competition with our neighbours; we complement each other. That said, we are the right choice for those who are looking for the specific advantages Qatar and QFZ offer: a combination of unparalleled logistics and educational infrastructure, a multicultural environment, vast natural gas reserves, a seamless regulatory experience, grand-scale projects and connectivity to global markets by air, sea and land.

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Q: What’s next for Qatar’s free zones? What strategic initiatives are in the pipeline?

A: Our free zones help support businesses to diversify and hedge their operation in an increasingly uncertain world marked by supply chain disruption, high energy costs and geopolitical risk factors. We strive to create long-term value for our investors, while they simultaneously support the diversification of Qatar's economy and the establishment of new sectors. 

This article first appeared in the August/September 2023 print edition of fDi Intelligence