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Qatar: Countrys
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In 1970, a year before independence, Qatar became the first of the lower Gulf states to adopt a written constitution. It provided for a council of ministers or a cabinet to be appointed by the ruler, and an elected advisory council. Members of the ruling family dominate the cabinet and the advisory council has ... far consisted only of members appointed by the ruler. With perhaps as many as 20,000 members, the Al Thani family is the largest ruling family in the region and has dominated most important areas of government. In June 1995 Shaykh Hamad ibn Khalifa overthrew his father, Shaykh Khalifa ibn Hamad Al Thani. Hamad has attempted to open the country's social and political environment.
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Qtel ( http://www.qtel.com.qa/ ) is the exclusive telecommunications provider in Qatar and is one of the largest public companies in the country with about 1,800 employees. Qtel provides a range of telecommunications products including national, international, mobile GSM, Internet & Cable television services. Qtel was successfully launched on the Doha Securities Market (DSM) in 1998 and successively listed on the London Stock Exchange, and the Bahrain and Abu Dhabi stock markets. Qtel's strategic priority is to create value for its shareholders through superior customer service and new products and services demanded by the rapidly growing and modernizing Qatari economy.
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Qatar occupies a peninsula that extends into the Persian Gulf. This oil-rich nation, under British protection until 1971, chose not to join the United Arab Emirates. Qatar has exported oil since 1949, and as reserves decline, the nation has turned to its natural gas. The North Field (half the size of the entire country) is the largest single reservoir of natural gas in the world. The current emir has instituted political reforms, including allowing women to vote and hold office.
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Qatar is now the richest country in the Muslim world. Current GDP per capita registered a world record-breaking peak growth of 1,156% in the Seventies. This became quickly unsustainable and Qatar's current GDP per capita contracted 53% in the Eighties. But rising global oil demand helped current GDP per capita to expand 94% in the Nineties. Diversification is still a long-term issue for this over-exposed economy.
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Qatar's energy industry, especially its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and gas-to-liquids (GTL) sectors, continued its phenomenal growth in 2006. Progress was ... ongoing in the country's long-planned Dolphin Gas Project to deliver substantial quantities of gas to the neighbouring United Arab Emirates via an undersea pipeline. In addition, the government announced plans to spend $15 billion to increase the number of the country's tanker fleet to further expand its already substantial exports of LNG. These and other investments underscored Qatar's quest to become the world's largest LNG supplier, the gas capital of the less-developed world, and an increased source of LNG for the U.S., British, and Asian economies.
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Qatar's central bank plans to sell bonds to absorb rising liquidity in an effort to check inflation. Abdullah bin Saud Al Thani of the Central Bank told journalists that the bank would be "issuing bonds." Sheikh Abdullah said the country's currency peg to the US dollar was not spurring inflation: "We do not suffer from imported inflation."
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