Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economy. Show all posts

Tuesday, 11 August 2015


There is so much craze in the cash-rich Qatari community, particularly among the youth, to own fancy car registration numbers that many of them take bank loans and some even sell their properties.
A Qatari, Abdulaziz Azzam, estimates that annual turnover involving pricy car number plates in Qatar could be equivalent to the budget of a small country.
“It is simply a piece of iron but some people are crazy enough to take bank loans to buy fancy car numbers. Some even sell their land and property to own such numbers,” he said.
The hobby is catching up particularly among Qatari youth. Ali Yusuf, another Qatari, told Al Sharq that he bought an easy-to-remember car registration number for QR800 some 15 years ago and its price today was a million riyals.
“But that is nothing. There are such pricy car number plates which are even worth QR15m and more,” said Yusuf. 
A collector of fancy car number plates himself, he said it was his hobby. “In the days gone by our forefathers worked really hard to earn a riyal so they could buy food, but the new generation, with access to wealth, has no value for money,” Yusuf said.
“The dream of most people today is to buy fancy car registration numbers, luxury watches, sunglasses and cars even if they must take huge bank loans and get into a vicious debt trap.”
Al Sharq said that there is much demand for such numbers and that explains why there are even websites which people access to trade in fancy car registration numbers.
The daily spoke with an imam, Mohamed bin Hassan Al Miraikhi, and he said that buying such numbers was a criminal waste of money.
He advised youngsters to desist from indulging in such wasteful activities. “Why spend so much money only to own a car number plate?”
“There are people who are hungry. There are people who are in genuine need of money,” he said hinting that the moneyed must help them instead of wasting their wealth.
Al Sharq, on its website, conducted a survey with 50 people participating in it. They were selected randomly using the social media. A majority 82 percent of them said they thought it was a sheer waste of money to buy fancy car registration numbers.
However, the remaining 18 percent said people had the right to spend their money the way they wished to.

Fancy Vehicle Number Plates Getting Pricier

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Monday, 10 August 2015



Doha witnesses young age Qatari nationals hunting for jobs while they are sure to get one if they are fluent in speaking English or they know computers. That is what a ministerial survey has found.

The finding further explains that youth are not interested in private jobs because of several reasons. Private employers only pay against the talent and always have tight budgets together with, odd work hours, maybe they need to work in shifts and even they have six days working in a week too. Further there are usually benefits termination a job having no retirement plans.

Why Qatari youth is unemployed, this because they lack experience and they are not qualified enough for the job offer. The survey during first quarter of 2015 was managed by the Ministry of Development Planning and the figures reveal that  177 Qataris holding secondary school certificate do not want to join private sector because of fore mentioned reasons.

Both men and women total 1.8 million who were found economically active. Out of this, the age group 25 to 34 years totaled 694,139 and next age group 35 to 44 years totaled 519,432.

The younger age group falling in bracket 15 to 24 year was 215,485 in number. The economically active Qatari ladies were counted as 35,296 while those excluding this group were around 62,000 in number.

Only 375 Qatari men and women did show interest in working with private sector while another 389 clearly decided not to join private sector for their jobs.

Unemployed Qataris are interested to learn English but not willing to join private sector!

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Location: Doha, Qatar

Wednesday, 5 August 2015

The sultanate is under pressure to pump more oil to make up for drop in price

Oman ramped up its oil production to a record high in June, adding to a global supply glut that has hit oil prices, as the Gulf Arab country compensates for the drop in its oil revenue.
June production reached 992,700 barrels per day of crude oil and light oil condensate, the highest ever according to official records going back to 2002. It produced an average of 975,000 bpd in May.
The sultanate is under pressure to pump more oil to make up for the drop in the price. It hopes to boost its crude oil production by 5 per cent to 1 million barrels per day in 2015.
Brent crude oil was trading around $51 (Dh187) a barrel on Monday, down from $115 a barrel in June last year.
The drop in crude prices has hit hard. Oman posted a budget deficit of 1.50 billion rials ($3.90 billion) in the first five months of this year, swinging from a 232.9 million rial surplus a year earlier, finance ministry data showed on Sunday.
Oman is a small independent producer, not in Opec, but its crude forms part of the benchmark price for millions of barrels per day of exports from Middle East producers to Asia.
In 2013, Oman exported an estimated 833,400 bpd of crude oil and condensate, of which nearly 60 per cent went to China, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Oman boosts oil production to record high in June

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Tuesday, 4 August 2015



If a question is asked that which government is the most efficient globally, World EconomicForum (WEF) has announced that. The Forum considers that Qatar government is the most efficient one in world. Next place is for Singapore, third place is for Finland, Hong Kong comes next while UAE stood at 5th position. Next five contestants were New Zealand, Rwanda, Malaysia, Switzerland and Luxembourg. This data has been extracted from Global Competitiveness Report’s latest edition. This report considered efficiency of 144 governments on measures like government spending wastage, regulation burden and policymaking transparency for global ranking.
This way if we look at the bottom of the list, the last three countries happen to be Venezuela, Italy and Argentina. The Forum believes that government efficiency directly effects country’s competitiveness as well as on economic growth. Similarly excessive bureaucracy with rules and regulations with lack of transparency plus inadequate legal frameworks all have additional costs on business and obstruct country’s expansion. Rwanda has surprised the forum by showing minimum wastage in government spending. Forum’s verdict about Qatar, though remains a question by many but the Forum decided that. Independent Newspaper from UK tells David Roberts, who is King’s College London academician specializing on Gulf international relations as well as security, considered this decision as "hard to fathom". He lived in Qatar for four years for his pursuits. He raised questions on research methodology and the meaningfulness of the findings. He commented that he does not care how solid is the methodology but those who have direct exposure by living in Qatar will not believe in these findings too.
One of the bloggers is surprised to see the recently defaulted country Greece is not in the bottom countries list to which another blogger agrees. Another comment came as the findings have a very brief and thirsty background with almost no foundation
A blogger commented quoting traffic violations that a violator can immediately have access to Captain to seek discount and that is efficiency of the government. A blogger comments that it is the sweet willof the Captain to decide and amusingly names these discretions as “Khalifa System”
In response to this another blogger responded by suggesting that people should look at the things from a larger perspective. He comments that an ordinary expat working inQatar has average salary as QR 2000 where as traffic violation like crossing a red light would cost him QR 6000. This situation is quite a burden on him as well as on his family for several months to meet with his liability that popped up out of the blue. The Captain does not forego the whole fine but allows a discount. He basically considers all avenues like whether the driver is habitual of breaking law or what exactly was the situation when a specific violation occurred and whether the violation was inadvertant or delibrate etc.This way the violator has to pay the fine as the officers do not agree to discounts in all cases too. For low salaried people, the penalty keeps them haunting for a long time. The blogger feels that rich people have their own perspective about life and government efficiency and poor have to be through the mill as usual. This way Forum’s decision seems to be the decision by the opulent class.
The last blogger however gives a simple solution to penalties on traffic violations, “Obey the law and avoid all penalties”


Do you agree?

Qatar’s Efficient Government

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Tuesday, 28 July 2015


 The Rugby World Cup is just one of the countless sports that have an unforetold impact on the lives of the public, most especially those of the sports fans and enthusiasts. What is not apparent is its subtle economic impact that is not often felt by the crowds in the arena.
As early as the 1990s, the academia has been conducting research on the influence of sporting events on the economy. Events such as the British Open Golf Championships in 2004 creates a significant difference on the local economy, says Sheffield Hallam Sports Industry Research Centre Head Professor Simon Shibli.
The researchers conduct surveys on audiences ranging from spectators to corporate delegations. They also analyse event budgets, and study where the money comes from and how it is being spent.


According to Shibli, the cost can reach up to £75m, especially in host areas such as the Wirral and Liverpool. He explains, “Fans and tourists bring in money that normally wouldn't be there. This money benefits accommodation providers, local travel, shops – even car parks.”
Construction of new sports stadium also has a huge influence on various sectors such as construction, tourism, sports retail, and leisure. Gym memberships observe a significant increase during the course of sports tournaments. According to Les Budd of The Open University Business School, “The Giro D’Italia in Northern Ireland stimulated increased cycling and created more interest in the country as an activity holiday destination.”
Adds Professor Chris Brady, director of the Centre for Sports Business at Salford University, sales for TV and tablet usually increase during sporting events. He declares, “There is also the feel good factor that such events generate and when people feel good they spend. However, the evidence does not suggest that there is any lasting effect; we soon revert to the norm.”
The long-term effects on the economy are derived from the rising infrastructure and increasing land values. However, tourists coming in due to the attraction of the sporting fixtures  have a more immediate influence on the local economic activity. Says Omari Williams of the University of Derby, a tourism report by Visit Britain reveals that tourists attending the 2011cEnglish football matches resulted in an increase of £706 million to the economy in 2011. “Winter sports such as football and rugby are extremely attractive tools for tour operators to entice visitors to Britain during quieter periods,” adds Williams.
Moreover, Dr Andrew Cooke of the Nottingham Business School warns, “It's important to identify where the assumptions lie, what has been omitted and who actually sponsored the evaluation in the first place.” 
Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/student/shu/economic-impact-of-sporting-events-10260570.html

The Effect of Sports on Economy!

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