Qatar now wants the favor returned and is moving ahead with legislation that will allow full foreign ownership of companies operating in the country, which is much broader step than a more limited measure proposed recently by Saudi Arabia - which is competing with Qatar for new international business.
Qatar’s Ministry of Economy and Commerce is promoting the law overseas as providing many incentives to foreign investors including "exemption from customs duties and possibility of exemption from income tax.” The legislation follows a directive from the emir last year to open up the economy.
Qatar’s struggle against the blockade also includes lucrative arms deals. To ensure its stability, the emirate paid almost $1 billion to build the Al Udeid Air Base in the 1990s, where U.S. CENTCOM is headquartered and the British Royal Air Force also operates.
Shortly after the Saudis announced their blockade, U.S. President Donald Trump joined in and called Qatar “a funder of terrorism at a high level” - an endorsement of the blockade that surprised even the U.S. State Department which was working to “ease tensions.” Later that same week the U.S. signed a $12 billion deal to sell fighter jets to Qatar, as two U.S. warships arrived to carry out joint military exercises with the country. Months later, in December 2017, Qatar announced it would buy fighter jets and armored vehicles from France as part of 12 billion euro deal.
Qatar has also engaged in a year-long public relations campaign in Washington, D.C. to clean-up its image - including courting prominent U.S. Jewish leaders. The emirate has even gone as far as too engage in talks to purchase Newsmax - a right-leaning news agency owned by a close-friend of Trump. Allegations of decades of funding terrorism, including its long sponsorship of Hamas and its leaders, have not been forgotten so quickly. But, they do not factor largely in this crisis as Saudi Arabia too has been plagued by similar allegations of stoking Islamic extremism. As both countries vye for influence in Washington and the region those competing claims seem to cancel each other out and fall by the wayside.
As the Qatari crisis enters its second year there is little indication it will resolve anytime soon - but by the looks of it that may be both beneficial to the Qatari economy and the civil liberties of those residing in the tiny energy-rich emirate.
Tag: Qatar News