Sri Lanka can take a leaf in the manner in which Qatar changed its laws and reduced red tape to woo foreign investors and become one of the richest nations in the world.
This is without utilizing its oil and gas deposits which are sufficient for the next 200 years, said Shashank Srivastava, Managing Director, WSD Consulting and former CEO Qatar Financial Centre.
Speaking at the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2017 which kicked off yesterday, he said that Qatar even allowed private oil and gas companies to come and invest in their oil fields.
Qatar has the highest per capita income in the world at the rate of US$ 146,000 annually. The Middle Eastern nation is the second country in the world with the largest number of millionaires (approximately 30,000).
Qatar is also the first Arab and fourth nation in the world in quality education after Japan. The nation is the first in the Arab world and sixth in the world at the level of quality of health. It is first in the Arab world and ranked 20th in the world in the fight against corruption. It is the second country in the rate of security and safer risk of terrorism.
Qatar is the first Arab and 12 globally in the Global Competitiveness Report; Qatari bank assets equal QR1.1 trillion; Qatar has the largest Arab bank with assets of about 520 billion riyals; and Qatar has US$ 300 billion in sovereign funds involving 39 countries
The Middle Eastern nation has significant shares in Europe’s largest banks, Barclays and Credit Suisse.
Qatar owns the world’s largest luxury goods store, Harrods, in London.
Qatar annually spends US$ 6 billion on scientific research projects and Qatar Airways is the fastest growing airline in the world with 170 aircraft.
Qatar Telecom operates in 17 countries with 107 million subscribers. Qatar owns 28% of the towers of London.
All its citizens are treated externally at the expense of the state. Qatar is the only country in the world where water and electricity are free. It is also the only country in the world that has no taxes. Qatar’s Hamad Airport received the title of the finest airport in the world.
It is the world’s first state in the spread of optical fibre and the world’s first country in infrastructure indicators.
Qatar is the first country in the world in national savings. It is the safest country against disaster risk.
It is the first Arab country in the food security index.
Qatar is the first Arab country in human development. Qatar is the first Arab country in the development of the capital market.
Qatar owns the second largest fleet of gas transport in the world; it has reserves of 15 billion barrels of oil enough for 40 years; it owns 900 trillion cubic feet of gas, enough for 143 years.
Qatar is ranked fourth globally in petrochemical production.
He also said that the country took calculated risks which have all worked well for the Qatar economy.
The country’s foremost economic summit, Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2017, was inaugurated yesterday at the Cinnamon Lakeside, Colombo.
The high-profile event began with the participation of the Principal Economic Adviser to the government of India, Sanjeev Sanyal, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, State Minister of Finance Eran Wickramaratne, Deputy Minister of Economic Planning Dr. Harsha De Silva and Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman Rajendra Theagrajah.
The summit is being held for the 17th consecutive year.
The theme this year is ‘Execute – Transform - Realize’. Over the two days, government ministers, Opposition parliamentarians and government advisors as well as 17 foreign speakers, leaders in their respective fields are participating.
The theme of the inaugural session was ‘Accelerating Growth and Pushing for Performance’.
The first day was saw 400 participants, the majority consisting of high-profile corporate executives, senior public sector officials, academics and also sectoral representations.
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