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City
Profile
This
city, which is the namesake of the Doha
round of trade talks of the WTO, is at the
heart of a booming country. Doha is
in the midst of an unprecedented surge in
construction, with a number of large and
small-scale projects including the Khalifa
Stadium, a new $2 billion airport, and the
man-made archipelago called the Pearl of
the Gulf.
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Country
Rankings
Qatar
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| Ease
of Doing Business World Bank '05 |
Not
Covered
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Corruption
Perception
Transparency International '05 |
32
of 159
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High*
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Growth
Competitiveness
World Economic Forum '05 |
19
of 117
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High
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| National
Literacy |
82.5%
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Med
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GDP
Growth
(2004 est.) |
8.7%
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High
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In
addition, there are the Four Seasons complex,
Education City and infrastructure improvements
throughout the city. According to a recent
report by US-based consultants the Berger Group
for the Doha government it is assumed that by
2020 up to 90 percent of Qatar's population will
live in Doha.
Last
year, Doha's stock exchange, produced more than
a 60% return. Large amounts of Arab wealth
and soaring oil prices help to explain the current
boom. The success of Qatar Airways and increased
tourism - aided by high-profile events like 'La
France expose au Qatar,' a major trade show taking
place last year - are also factors behind the
country's expansion. Qatar has also made
a mark on regional and international media as
the headquarters of Al Jazeera.
Auerbach
Grayson & Company, Inc., a New York-based
brokerage firm that specializes in international
securities trading for US institutional investors,
recently announced that Doha Bank has agreed to
become its exclusive local broker partner in the
State of Qatar. HSBC Holdings has also set
up a new team to grow the company’s business
in the sustainable development sector. The
unit will work closely with HSBC’s existing
customer groups and will also assume responsibility
for the group’s emerging microfinance strategy
and, in time, examine the development of retail
financial products and services such as loans
and mortgages for energy efficiency.
Source:
Population:
2004 or latest: http://www.citypopulation.de;
GDP Data: 2004 CIA Fact Book estimate; Literacy:
UN estimate
*
Country Ranking Codes: A relative color coding
of where the country falls compared to the 20
other Muslim countries represented in this list.
Hgh/Green=Top 3rd; Med/Yellow=Mid 3rd; Low/Orange=Bottom
rd
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