Having won the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar has embarked on a massive investment programme. Qatar will spend $200 billion on infrastructure projects in the lead-up to the tournament. These include stadiums, a metro system, roads and airports.
The state-run Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) manages $445 billion in assets. They own huge real estate in Britain, and are one of the largest shareholders of Credit Suisse. They also own a 19 percent stake in Rosneft. In addition, Qatar will invest $20 billion in tourism infrastructure.
The World Cup will draw hundreds of thousands of fans, and it will provide a platform for Qatar to show off its state-of-the-art facilities. It will also boost tourism, and boost the economy of related industries such as hospitality.
The cost of hosting major sporting events is almost always a concern. In Qatar, the cost of stadiums has been reported as $6.5 billion to $10 billion. The rest of the money is being spent on new hotels, metro systems, and airports.
While the Qatar World Cup investment programme will provide a boost to the country’s non-oil economy, it will not do much to boost the country’s oil industry. A drop in demand will reduce the use of the infrastructure built after the tournament.
As Qatar moves towards becoming a knowledge-based economy, migrant workers account for more than nine out of ten jobs in the country. Amnesty International estimates that 1.7 million migrant workers are living in the country.
