Doha: Qatar’s manufacturing sector is a major driving force in Qatar’s economic diversification. These evolutionary industries power the goals of the Qatar National Vision (QNV) 2030, which aims to transform Qatar into an advanced country capable of sustaining its development and ensuring high living standards for its people.
The QNV 2030 targets developing a diversified economy with diminishing dependence on hydrocarbons, where investment is moving towards a knowledge-based economy and the private sector is growing in importance.
The recycling industry in Qatar currently produces 215 products from 135 factories. Paper products and the printing industry contribute 78 products from 62 factories, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) statistics.
The Qatar National Development Strategy Goals, 2018-2022, encourages and supports the private sector to pursue sustainable recycling projects for all types of waste, devising a plan to manage solid waste, which would emphasise the country’s recycling strategy and handle hazardous waste and substances.
Last year, 434,000 tonnes of building materials were produced by recycling construction waste. According to information shared by the MME on its official social media accounts, 482,402 tyres were also processed in 2020.
The strategy will also raise the percentage of the utilisation of recycled materials to 20 percent by the end of 2022 and recycling 15 percent of all generated waste by 2022. Qatar’s building materials and chemical products industry has 281 factories with 392 products. The medical products sector makes 22 products from five factories. Besides, the petroleum and petrochemical industry boasts of 28 factories that produce 64 products. The metal industry with 179 factories makes 291 products.
According to a study by Mordor Intelligence, the Qatar Metal Working, valued at $1,766.4m in 2018, is expected to grow with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 4.84% over the forecast period of 2019-2024.
In the electrical equipment industry, Qatar’s 36 factories manufacture 93 products, while the food and beverage sector, with 86 factories, makes 177 products. On the other hand, the textile industry makes 42 products from 15 factories, while the wood and derivatives sector produces 32 items from 36 factories. The machinery and transport equipment industry makes 124 products with 37 factories while the furniture-making sector makes 61 products from 28 factories.
A KPMG report recently stated that Qatar’s efforts to promote local manufacturing are expected to help ramp up production value for the sector by some 30 percent in the next few years. The report also stated that the manufacturing sector would employ over 100,000 people by 2025. Recently, the Minister of Commerce and Industry H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari disclosed that Qatar has 920 running factories, recording a six percent increase compared to 2019. The industrial sector in 2020 also saw an investment of approximately QR263bn, showing a growth rate of 0.4 percent compared to 2019.
