Doha: Due to the pivotal role of foreign trade in the economic and social development, Qatar has recognized since the early 1990s the importance of integrating its economy with foreign economies. This realization prompted a comprehensive review of Qatar's trade policies and foreign investment regulations in accordance with international standards.
According to Qatar News Agency, the "Qatar Economic Outlook Report 2021 - 2023" released in January 2022 revealed that the average ratio of total merchandise exports to GDP during the period 2017-2020 was approximately 41.2%. The average proportion of the state's public revenues from oil and gas accounted for about 74.1% of total hydrocarbon exports. Additionally, import activities help supply local markets with consumer, intermediate, and capital goods to meet the demands of economic and social development.
World Bank statistics for 2019 ranked Qatar 42nd globally in total exports among exporting countries. Moreover, data from the International Trade Centre (ITC) in 2019 showed that Qatar ranked 64th in total imports among importing countries. In 2019, Qatar's trade partners numbered approximately 144 countries for imports and 156 countries for exports.
Tracing the evolution of Qatar's trade policies and foreign investment, and from the perspective of benefiting from the positive effects of economic openness and liberalization of trade and foreign investment, Qatar began in the early 1990s to modernize its legal framework for international trade and investment. This included commitments related to international obligations as well as domestic laws and regulations, culminating in Qatar's accession to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) on April 7, 1994.
After GATT was replaced by the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on January 1, 1995, Qatar ratified WTO commitments within its national legislation under Decree No. 24 of 1995, issued on December 3, 1995, pursuant to the protocol of Qatar's accession to the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO. Qatar officially joined the WTO on January 13, 1996.
Qatar hosted the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in November 2001, which facilitated negotiations on regulations concerning agriculture, services, and intellectual property. Qatar's participation in founding the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in May 1981 led to its ratification of dozens of agreements on the reciprocal promotion and protection of investments (RPPI), as well as the economic, commercial, and technical cooperation (ECTC).
According to Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement of 1995, which stipulated the creation of a mechanism to review trade policies to assist member countries in conducting periodic reviews of trade policies and practices-and following a recent amendment requiring each member state to conduct a trade policy review every seven years-Qatar conducted three such reviews: the first on February 21, 2005, the second on April 22, 2014, and the third on April 6 and 8, 2021.
The latest statistics indicate that Qatar's economic openness index with foreign economies reached about 90.8% of GDP during the period 2017-2020, especially with the significant increase in trade exchange rates of exports and imports of goods and services between Qatar and many countries worldwide.