Business

Qatar Free Zones Authority (QFZ) CEO Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Faisal al-Thani held a meeting with Iraqi Minister of Trade Atheer Dawood Salman al-Ghrairi during a visit, alongside his accompanying delegation, to Qatar. During the meeting, the two sides discussed co-operation efforts and exchange of experiences in the fields of trade and investment. The meeting also highlighted the investment opportunities and outstanding benefits offered by Qatar’s free zones to attract companies to invest and establish their businesses in Qatar. The meeting was attended by senior officials from QFZ and was followed by an introductory tour of the Business Innovation Park at Ras Bufontas Free Zone.

His Excellency the Governor of Qatar Central Bank, Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud al-Thani met with Borge Brende, President and Chief Executive Officer of the World Economic Forum, on the sidelines of Doha Forum Sunday. During the meeting, they reviewed the latest global economic developments, the QCB said Sunday.

His Excellency the Minister of State for Foreign Trade Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al-Sayed held talks in Doha on Sunday with Mehmet Simsek, Minister of Treasury and Finance of the Republic of Turkiye, on the sidelines of the Doha Forum 2025, as the two countries explored ways to deepen their economic partnership.The discussions focused on expanding bilateral co-operation in trade and investment, with both sides reviewing key areas of mutual interest and identifying opportunities to broaden commercial links.Officials also exchanged views on issues featured on this year's forum agenda, which spotlights global economic stability, sustainable growth and geopolitical challenges.Relations between Qatar and Turkiye have grown steadily in recent years, particularly in finance, defence and trade. Sunday's meeting was described as part of a continued effort to strengthen the strategic economic ties that underpin the partnership between the two nations.

The State of Qatar has wrapped up its participation for the second consecutive year in the Shanghai International Luxury Property Expo 2025, held from December 5-7, 2025.Consul General of the State of Qatar in Shanghai, Rashid bin Mubarak al-Khater, inaugurated the Qatar Pavilion, which served as a vibrant platform to introduce Qatar's real estate market and its rapid growth to property investors and stakeholders from around the world.The national pavilion of Qatar was organised in collaboration with Invest Qatar and the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Aqarat), alongside a distinguished group of leading Qatari real estate developers, including Qatari Diar, United Development Company (UDC), GMG Holding Group, and Qatar Sotheby's International Realty.This participation contributed to enhancing Qatar's position as an attractive real estate destination, amid broad participation in the event, which drew over 12,000 prominent investors and real estate sector leaders.The participating companies highlighted the nation's advanced regulatory environment and the promising real estate opportunities it offers.Commenting on Qatar's participation, Chairman of Aqarat, Engineer Khalid bin Ahmed al-Obaidli, said: "We take pride in our participation in the Shanghai Property Expo as part of our vision to reinforce Qatar's position as a leading investment destination, by showcasing luxury real estate projects and spotlighting the attractive investment environment the State provides. Qatar represents an ideal destination to invest, live, work, and do business. We focus on expanding the base of international investors through innovative solutions and advanced digital services that ensure a smooth and secure experience, reflecting our commitment to supporting long-term partnerships".For his part, CEO of Invest Qatar, Sheikh Ali Alwaleed al-Thani, said: "Qatar's real estate sector ranks as the second-largest non-hydrocarbon sector attracting capital expenditure from international investors, reflecting a high level of confidence in the Qatari market. The Shanghai 2025 Expo provided an ideal platform to showcase this growth and highlight the diverse investment opportunities available in a sector projected to reach $45bn by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 4.7%".Over the past two decades, Qatar's real estate sector has cemented its role as a cornerstone of economic diversification, attracting around 17.4% of total foreign direct investment in non-oil sectors, approximately $1.7bn, demonstrating sustained confidence from international investors in the Qatari market and its pivotal role in supporting long-term sustainability and growth.The expo is one of the most prominent specialised exhibitions for luxury real estate in the Asia-Pacific region.The latest edition witnessed wide participation, with over 180 exhibitors from Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, and the Middle East, reinforcing the expo's status as the largest international real estate event hosted in Shanghai and one of the world's key platforms for attracting global property investors.

The Federal Reserve meeting next week is expected to be one of its most contentious in years, and Wall Street investors are focused on how divided policymakers are over an expected interest-rate cut and what Chair Jerome Powell signals about the path ahead. Five of the 12 voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee have voiced opposition or scepticism about further easing, while three members of the Washington-based Board of Governors favour a cut.The FOMC has not had three or more dissents at a meeting since 2019, and that has happened just nine times since 1990.That split puts the dissents under a microscope as investors look for signals at the Tuesday-Wednesday meeting on the Fed's policy direction and internal dynamics."The Fed seems to be more divided than it has been in a very, very long time, and just how divided will be of interest because that will give some sense of perhaps where the Fed might lean in the future," said Michael Rosen, chief investment officer at Angeles Investments. Rosen added that the uncertainty stems from the Fed's challenge of balancing its twin goals of full employment and stable inflation.Economic data on Thursday showed jobless claims last week fell to the lowest in more than three years, easing fears of a sharp labour market deterioration and feeding rate cut expectations. A Chicago Fed estimate suggested the unemployment rate held near 4.4% in November.Markets are pricing in an 85% chance of a quarter-point cut at next week's meeting, LSEG data show. The Fed last lowered the policy rate on October 29, to a range of 3.75-4.00% from 4.00-4.25%, the second consecutive 25-basis-point cut this year.Powell later jolted markets when he said the likelihood of a cut in December was "not a foregone conclusion". Stocks reversed gains after that comment, as many investors had priced a rate cut as a done deal.Jeremiah Buckley, equities portfolio manager at Janus Henderson, said the December meeting does not matter much for markets in the long term. "Certainly, there could be some short-term volatility, but what they do over the first half of 2026, I think, matters more than December," he added.Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index has risen 16.5% so far this year. Tony Roth, CIO, Wilmington Trust, does not expect stocks to move much if the Fed delivers a cut."The Fed move is really baked in at this point. It's really going to be just about the Fed guidance," Roth said. "And I think they're going to be pretty cautious. They're going to talk about being data dependent." Complicating the Fed's deliberations is a backlog of economic data. The 43-day government shutdown, the longest in history, delayed the November employment print until December 16, after policymakers meet. The unemployment rate for October will remain unknown as the shutdown prevented the collection of data for the household survey used to calculate it.Although somewhat dated, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey data, due December 9, would give markets a glimpse into October's labour trends - especially layoffs - amid the current low-hiring, low-firing environment. Some observers don't believe the odds of a cut are as high as the markets imply, and are more interested in Powell's statements and how close the policy vote is."We don't think that anything is definite yet," said David Seif, chief economist for developed markets at Nomura. "So, I definitely think the market is underpricing the risk that the Fed chooses not to cut at the December meeting." Seif said what would be interesting "particularly in the case of a cut, is how much dissent there is." With four regional presidents rotating off, their stance will reveal how much independence they intend to assert and the pressure they'll put on the Fed."Because it really signals not just what they're willing to do against Chair Powell, but what they're willing to do against Powell's successor as chair. We're really trying to figure out how much the model at the Fed is changing into a much simpler situation with one person, one vote."

It’s been about 17 years since banks sent global equity benchmarks plunging to distressed levels during the financial crisis. In Spain and Italy, an unstoppable surge in shares of the country’s biggest lenders is finally wiping out those losses.Spain’s Ibex 35 Index claimed its first record high since 2007 in October, and Italy’s FTSE MIB has hit the highest level since 2001 last month. These rallies have been overwhelmingly propelled by banks, which account for almost 70% of the gains in Spain this year and nearly 80% of those in Italy, with lenders making up nearly 40% of the benchmarks by weight.“Spanish and Italian banks are now much better and more solid businesses than 20 years ago,” said Roberto Scholtes, head of strategy at Singular Bank. “Balance sheets are less leveraged, as loan-to-deposit ratios are below 100%, reliance on interbank and capital markets for funding has been greatly reduced, and now have more diversified income sources.”Europe’s best-performing sector so far this year, the Stoxx 600 Banks Index, is up 56% compared with a 14% gain in the broader benchmark. Spanish banks have emerged as clear standouts, providing four of the sector’s top 10 stocks in 2025. Strong earnings, generous investor payouts, improving economic prospects and industry consolidation supported the shares of lenders in the two southern European countries and beyond.“Southern European banks screen as attractive given their strong profitability, with Iberian and Italian banks set to deliver mid- to high-teen ROTEs,” said Goldman Sachs Group Inc analyst Sofie Peterzens, referring to return on tangible equity. This is supported “by reduced interest rate sensitivity, an improving volume outlook, disciplined cost management, significant deleveraging and de-risking over the past decade driving a benign cost of risk outlook, and a constructive macroeconomic backdrop,” she said.Since the start of 2021, bank-stock returns have entirely revolved around earnings growth. Forward earnings estimates for the Stoxx 600 Banks Index have surged 242%, even faster than the 206% price rally over the same period. That also means valuations are nearly 10% lower than they were back then.Banco Santander SA offers an illustration of transformation in Europe’s banking sector, growingly aggressively in recent decades to become a global heavyweight. Its last earnings included a sixth consecutive quarterly record profit, and the lender has become continental Europe’s most valuable bank.In Italy, successive crisis-era rescues, bad-loan cleanups and pressure from European regulators pushed weaker banks into mergers or resolution, turning a loss-making sector into one of Europe’s most profitable and resilient.Recent consolidation has been more voluntary: Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena September takeover of Mediobanca SpA created Italy’s third-largest lender by assets, while BPER Banca SpA secured control of smaller rival Banca Popolare di Sondrio SpA a few months earlier. UniCredit SpA withdrew its offer for Banco BPM SpA amid political opposition.“The regulatory overhang is behind us, and banks are finally seeing ratings that reflect the exit from a very long phase in which everything went against the financial system,” said Bruno Rovelli, BlackRock Inc.’s chief investment strategist for Italy.Across Europe, banks are far stronger than before the GFC, but their valuations lag pre-crisis levels. The forward price-to-earnings ratio for the Stoxx 600 Bank index is around 9.5, making it the cheapest sector in Europe after autos. Morgan Stanley analysts say that pre-GFC multiples are “once again possible” for European banks, leaving room for upside in the sector over the coming year.“Banks have outperformed the Nasdaq by a factor of two in the last three years. You would’ve done much better owning the SX7E than the hyperscaler AI,” Giles Rothbarth, portfolio manager and co-head of the European equity team at BlackRock, referring to the Euro Stoxx Banks Price Index. “That can continue because European banks remain the cheapest in the world.”What that means for national equity benchmarks in Italy and Spain may be less clear. Both countries’ economies are expected to keep growing as unemployment eases and inflation moderates, making for a positive backdrop for banks. And with the European Central Bank set to leave rates near current levels, lending revenue should hold up.“The Ibex has performed very well this year, but in reality what it has done is recover, because in previous years it had been lagging behind,” Rosa Duce, chief investment officer at the Spanish unit of Deutsche Bank, said. “Given that we still like the banking sector, we can expect the Ibex to continue doing well — but we shouldn’t assume it will keep outperforming the rest of the indexes, because what it has done now is mainly catch up.”

OilOil prices edged up nearly 1% to a two-week high on Friday on increasing expectations the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week, which could boost economic growth and energy demand. Traders expect the Fed to cut rates by 25 basis points.Brent crude futures settled at $63.75, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude finished at $60.08. For the week, Brent was up about 1% and WTI spiked 3%, marking a second straight weekly gain for both contracts.Investors also focused on news from Russia and Venezuela to determine whether oil supplies from the two sanctioned Opec+ members will increase or decrease in the future.The failure of US talks in Moscow to achieve any significant breakthrough over the war in Ukraine has helped to boost oil prices so far this week. GasAsian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices hit their lowest level in two months as high inventories and mild weather weighed on demand.The average LNG price for January delivery into north-east Asia was $10.66 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), down from $10.90 per mmBtu last week, industry sources estimated.Weaker coal demand weighed on prices, with weather not showing the coldest side for this time of the year and mainland China may remain warm until the middle of the month while a cold phase just left South Korea. Meanwhile, the relatively high shipping costs create an extra burden for Asian buyers, needing to overbid European counterparts with a larger premium.In Europe, gas prices fell on forecasts of warmer and windier weather. The Dutch TTF price settled at $9.35 per mmBtu, recording a weekly loss of 4.2%.This article was supplied by the Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah International Foundation for Energy and Sustainable Development.

Netflix Inc has agreed to purchase the streaming and studio assets of Warner Bros Discovery Inc in a $72bn deal that’s likely to impact the entertainment industry for decades.Netflix, the world’s dominant streaming platform, has grown to have more than 300mn subscribers — and this would be its first meaningful acquisition. If the deal is approved, Netflix would swallow one of Hollywood’s largest and most venerable film studios.One major area of interest is the future of theatres, given that they’re not Netflix’s main distribution mechanism. Others are the fate of Warner’s chief executive officer, David Zaslav, and its HBO Max streaming service. Why is this deal happening? Streaming has changed the way movies and TV shows are distributed, and legacy media companies like Warner Bros have struggled to come up with their own online offerings as viewers and advertisers cancel cable TV and go to movie theatres less frequently.Zaslav engineered a 2022 merger between Discovery Inc and Warner, but the stock flagged until Paramount Skydance Corp made an unsolicited offer for the business. What’s going to happen to cinemas? In the past, Netflix put just a few films in theatres for limited runs, usually to qualify for industry awards such as the Oscars. It considers viewers at home its primary audience.Cinema United, the trade association for theatre owners, called the Netflix deal “an unprecedented threat to the global exhibition business.”Netflix is pledging to maintain Warner Bros’ current operations and “build on its strengths, including theatrical releases for films.”On a December 5 conference call with investors, Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the company will release about 30 films in theatres this year. His chief gripe with the standard industry release strategy is the time it takes films to move from cinemas to streaming. “I wouldn’t look at this as a change in approach for Netflix movies or for Warner movies,” he said. He added that film releases “will evolve to be much more consumer friendly to be able to meet the audience where they are quicker.” Who else was bidding for Warner Bros? Paramount kicked off the bidding with three unsolicited offers this past fall.In a December 3 letter to Warner Bros, lawyers working for Paramount said the auction process was tilted in Netflix’s favour and that the Warner Bros board may be neglecting its duty to shareholders. The wording of the letter suggested potential legal action. In response, Warner Bros said it “attends to its fiduciary obligations with the utmost care.”One option Paramount could still deploy is a hostile bid, taking its $30-a-share, all-cash offer directly to shareholders. But that could provoke a prolonged fight with Warner Bros. If Warner Bros accepts an offer other than Netflix’s, it would be required to pay Netflix $2.8bn, according to the terms of their agreement. That high breakup fee would be an additional cost for Paramount to consider if it continues to pursue the company. What will happen to HBO Max? While not specifically saying so, Netflix executives suggested that they will continue to operate HBO Max as a separate service, much the way Walt Disney Co offers both Disney+ and Hulu. Services are typically bundled together at discounted prices.Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters told analysts that there is a high overlap between Netflix and HBO Max subscribers, who he said generate a significant amount of revenue. He said that Netflix could offer different packages and pricing tiers, and sell HBO content more aggressively globally. Is Warner Bros CEO Zaslav staying around? The longtime media executive wasn’t present for Netflix’s announcement of the deal. Zaslav hasn’t commented publicly beyond the press release and a memo to staff. No specific roles have been determined for him in the combined companies, according to people familiar with the discussions.Warner Bros is continuing plans to spin off its cable-TV networks — including CNN, TNT and HGTV — into a new company, Discovery Global, that will be led by Warner Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels. The spinoff is expected in the third quarter of 2026. What kind of regulatory scrutiny will the Netflix deal get? Lawyers for Paramount argued in another strongly worded letter to Warner Bros on December 1 that its proposed merger was likely to be approved and a Netflix one “will never close.” The transaction merges two of the world’s largest streaming services and two of the biggest makers of films and TV shows. Hollywood stars and unions have already come out against the deal, as have both Democratic and Republican politicians.At the very least, the transaction faces a year or more of scrutiny by regulators in multiple jurisdictions, including the US Justice Department and the European Union, before it can close. Netflix, whose executives and lobbyists have already been spending time in Washington to win support, agreed to pay a $5.8bn breakup fee if their deal isn’t approved.“Our plans here are to work really closely with all the appropriate governments and regulators, but [we’re] really confident that we’re going to get all the necessary approvals that we need,” Sarandos said on December 5. How will this impact jobs? Netflix is targeting $2bn to $3bn in cost savings and other synergies in the first few years after the transaction. Most of that will come from reductions in general and administrative expenses, specifically support functions of the businesses where there is overlap, Peters said.

His Excellency the Minister of Commerce and Industry Sheikh Faisal bin Thani bin Faisal al-Thani met on Saturday with Minister of Economy and Industry of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mohammed Nidal al-Shaar on the sidelines of the 23rd Doha Forum 2025, reports QNA. During the meeting, they reviewed co-operation relations between the two countries in the commercial, investment, and industrial fields, and ways to strengthen and develop them, in addition to discussing a number of topics of common interest.The two sides also discussed enhancing joint co-operation in the coming period, in a way that contributes to supporting and developing areas of co-operation between the two countries.

India is poised to seek bids for its $7.1bn majority stake in IDBI Bank Ltd, a key step in its long-running effort to privatise the previously-distressed lender and accelerate a divestment push.Talks with potential suitors are at an advanced stage, according to people familiar with the matter. A government agency is expected to formally open the bidding process as soon as this month, in what could be the biggest state-backed disposal of a bank stake in decades, they said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.India is aiming to sell 60.72% in the Mumbai-based lender, which amounts to about $7.1bn at IDBI Bank’s current market price. The bank, once burdened by heavy bad loans, has emerged from a major cleanup, and returned to profitability in recent years after capital support and aggressive recoveries helped it cut non-performing assets sharply.The government missed earlier deadlines to complete the sale due to hurdles such as delays in securing regulatory approvals. Government officials have repeatedly indicated the divestment process will be completed in the fiscal year ending March 2026. Shortlisted bidders are currently doing due diligence, the minister of state for finance said in a written reply to parliament questions this week.Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd, Emirates NBD PJSC and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd had shown so-called expression of interest in IDBI Bank and received a fit-and-proper criteria by the country’s central bank, the people said. An expression of interest is the first step in the bidding process, though may not result in a financial bid.The federal government and state-owned Life Insurance Corp of India together own about 95% in the lender. The government will sell 30.48% of its stake in the bank, while LIC will offload 30.24%, along with transfer of management control.Spokespeople for India’s finance ministry, LIC, IDBI Bank, Kotak and Fairfax didn’t respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Emirates NBD declined to comment.SuitorsKotak, backed by Asia’s richest banker Uday Kotak, is seen as the frontrunner to bid for IDBI Bank, the people said. Even so, the lender has signalled in talks that it won’t chase the deal at an inflated price, they said.An M&A can “leapfrog” Kotak’s scale, Jefferies said in a note late last month. Still, if the government seeks cash for the deal, this could drag on Kotak’s capitalisation and the merged bank’s profits, it said.Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa’s Fairfax, an active investor in India including in firms such as CSB Bank Ltd, remains in the fray, the people said. Emirates NBD, one of the Middle East’s largest lenders that recently announced a jumbo deal to buy a majority stake in RBL Bank Ltd, has also considered participating, they said.Shares of IDBI Bank have risen nearly 30% so far this year, resulting in a market value of more than 1tn rupees ($11.6bn). The government was pushing for a valuation of around 640bn rupees for the bank, Bloomberg News reported in 2022, a figure that’s long been surpassed as its shares rise in anticipation of a takeover.While the expectation is to have the winning bidder announced by end-March next year, the deal is still expected to stretch beyond that date as approvals and other clearances come into play, the people said.

Qatar National Bank (QNB) has reaffirmed its previous forecast that the US Federal Reserve will implement two additional 25-basis-point interest rate cuts. One of these cuts is expected next week, with the second likely to occur in the first quarter of 2026. This would bring the interest rate closer to the bank's estimated neutral level of 3.5%.In its weekly commentary, QNB said: "The US Federal Reserve (Fed) has entered one of its most contested policy periods in decades. The 25 basis points (bps) policy rate cut delivered in October was notable not for its size, but for the lack of consensus in reaching this decision. As highlighted in our November commentary, Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid voted against any cut while Governor Stephen Miran dissented in favour of a larger 50 bps reduction. This combination of simultaneous "hawkish" and "dovish" dissents remains exceedingly rare in the modern Fed, an institution that historically prized for consensus and predictability.The divisions were further illuminated by the latest FOMC minutes released in late November. They show growing disagreement around both the inflation outlook and the appropriate pace of easing. While most participants acknowledged that disinflation is progressing and that labour market slack is widening, the degree of conviction varies widely. Some policymakers view the current stance as still "restrictive," requiring continued steps toward more rate cuts to neutral or even accommodative territory. Others, however, fear that easing too quickly could risk re-accelerating price pressures, especially given uncertainty surrounding tariffs and supply-side bottlenecks."These divisions have translated into volatile market expectations. There is still significant market uncertainty about rate cuts throughout 2026. The key question is whether the Fed's internal fragmentation will push policy either toward a much deeper easing cycle or toward an early pause if inflation surprises to the upside. We believe neither extreme is likely and reiterate our call for two more rate cuts towards 3.5%, which we consider the low end of the "neutral" level range where rates are neither restrictive nor accommodative."The bank pointed out, "First, political pressures and incoming changes in the Board of Governors favour at least a move towards a neutral stance from the Fed. President Trump's increasingly vocal preferences for deeper rate cuts and his early signalling about the type of "dovish" successor he wants for the Chairmanship after Powell's term ends in May 2026 have raised the stakes around every FOMC meeting. This dynamic is compounded by ongoing changes in the Board's composition. Each new appointment or possibility of new appointment shift expectations about the Fed's medium-term bias, making decisions more contentions. At the margin, however, "doves" are getting stronger, even if this has been met with stronger opposition from the dwindling "hawks" that want to prevent too much easing."Second, inflation uncertainty has declined significantly compared to the peaks witnessed after the "Liberation Day" tariffs. Shelter inflation, previously the main source of inflation stickiness, has moderated steadily, and goods inflation continues to normalise as supply chains adjust. As we discussed in previous notes, tariffs still pose short-term upside risks to inflation but are increasingly seen as transitory and "looked through" by most policymakers, rather than a structural driver of inflation. This opens the door for further rate cuts."Third, despite month-to-month volatility and uncertainty associated with shutdown date release delays, labour markets trends continue to point to a significant deterioration. Job opening has fallen precipitously, layoffs have accelerated, and private payroll trackers point to further softening. As highlighted in our November commentary on the Fed, US employers cut more than 150,000 jobs in October, the sharpest reduction for the month in over two decades. For the first time since the pandemic, the labour market "jobs gap" now suggests slack or more civilian labour force than the sum of employment and job openings. This dynamic strengthens the argument for additional easing, even for members of the FOMC who have been cautious about inflation."QNB concluded: "All in all, we maintain our view that there is policy space for two additional 25 bps cuts, one later this week in December and another one in Q1-2026, bringing the policy rate close to the lower bound of our neutral level estimate of 3.5%. However, we also believe market expectations for a longer series of cuts throughout 2026 are too optimistic. The economy is slowing but shows no sign of a sharper downturn, and the trajectory for inflation, while improving, faces uncertainties related to tariffs and the speed of convergence back to the 2% target. In other words, the Fed is divided, the debate is intensifying, but the medium-term path is likely to be more moderate than either the most dovish FOMC members or current market pricing suggest."

His Excellency the Minister of Commerce and Industry Sheikh Faisal bin Thani bin Faisal al-Thani met on Saturday with President of the World Economic Forum Borge Brende, on the sidelines of the Doha Forum 2025, reports QNA. The meeting discussed ways to enhance co-operation and partnership between the State of Qatar and the World Economic Forum, in addition to exchanging views on items on the forum's agenda. The two sides also reviewed Qatar's efforts in developing the business environment and strengthening the private sector's role, in addition to the economic policies that support trade, industry, and investment, in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030 and its development objectives.

The Minister of Finance His Excellency Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari emphasised that Qatar’s LNG expansion strategy is helping to buffer against falling oil prices, ensuring stability in revenues and long-term resilience.He was speaking at the panel discussion titled ‘Global Trade Tensions: Economic Impact and Policy Responses in Mena’ held Saturday on the sidelines of the Doha Forum 2025.HE al-Kuwari noted that diversification has been central to Qatar’s 2030 national vision strategy since 2008, with growth increasingly coming from non-oil sectors, such as technology, manufacturing, logistics, and tourism. “Most of the growth in the economy is coming from the non-oil sector. For example, the first six months, GDP this year was 5.3% in growth from the non-oil GDP,” he said.HE al-Kuwari highlighted Qatar’s fiscal discipline, pointing to a 20-year framework that guides debt reduction, investment allocation, and reserve building. This approach has already reduced net debt from 58% in 2021 to 45%, earning Qatar an AA rating from all three major agencies — the highest in the region, he pointed out.The minister also stressed Qatar’s readiness to face global shocks, including recessions, thanks to fiscal buffers and disciplined policy. “Of course...Qatar has been very resilient. We’ve been resilient to many shocks,” emphasised HE al-Kuwari, who assured that the economy is ready in the event of a recession.

His Excellency the Minister of Finance Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari on Saturday met separately with Minister of Finance and Revenue of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Muhammad Aurangzeb and President of the World Economic Forum, Borge Brende on the sidelines of their participation in the 23rd Doha Forum, reports QNA. The two meetings discussed bilateral relations between the State of Qatar and Pakistan, and between the State of Qatar and the World Economic Forum, particularly in the economic, financial, and investment fields, and ways to develop them. The meetings also touched on areas of joint co-operation.

Wall Street is gearing up to lend massive amounts of money to the biggest players in artificial intelligence — and simultaneously trying to figure out how to protect itself from any bubble that its financing may be helping to inflate.The urgency at banks to shed risk is visible all over credit markets. The cost of protecting Oracle Corp debt against default using derivatives has risen to the highest since the Global Financial Crisis. Morgan Stanley has looked at using a significant risk transfer — a form of insurance against loan losses — to diffuse some of the risk tied to its tech company borrowers.Mega offerings from tech behemoths including Oracle, Meta Platforms Inc and Alphabet Inc have helped push global bond issuance to more than $6.46tn in 2025. These hyperscalers, along with electric utilities and other firms, are expected to spend at least $5tn as they race to build data centres and other infrastructure for a technology that’s promising to revolutionise the world’s economy.The sums are so large that issuers will have to tap just about all major debt markets, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. It could take years for these tech investments to pay off — if they pay off at all. The rush has left some lenders over-exposed, so they’re using a series of tools — credit derivatives, sophisticated bonds and some newer financial products — to shift the risk of underwriting the AI boom to other investors.“The technology is impressive. But that doesn’t mean you’re going to profit from it,” said Steven Grey, chief investment officer at Grey Value Management.Those risks became more real last week when a major outage halted trading at CME Group Inc and reminded investors that data-centre customers can leave if there are repeated breakdowns. In the aftermath, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. paused a planned $1.3bn mortgage bond sale for CyrusOne, the data-centre operator.Banks are turning to the credit derivatives markets to reduce their exposure. Trading of Oracle’s credit default swaps ballooned to about $8bn over the nine weeks ended November 28, according to an analysis of trade repository data by Barclays Plc credit strategist Jigar Patel. That’s up from around $350mn in the same period last year.Banks are providing the bulk of massive construction loans for data centres where Oracle is the intended tenant, which is likely driving much of the Oracle hedging, according to a recent Morgan Stanley research report. These include a $38bn loan package and a $18bn loan to build multiple new data centre facilities in Texas, Wisconsin and New Mexico.Prices for other swaps are climbing, too. A five-year CDS agreement to protect $10mn of Microsoft Corp. debt from default would cost about $34,000 annually, or 34 basis points on Thursday. In mid-October, it was closer to $20,000 a year.The spread on Microsoft default swaps is remarkably wide for a AAA rated company, according to Andrew Weinberg, a portfolio manager at Saba Capital Management, a hedge fund management firm that has been selling protection. By comparison, protection on Johnson & Johnson, the other US company rated AAA, cost about 19 basis points a year on Thursday.“Selling protection on Microsoft at greater than 50% wider levels than fellow AAA rated J&J is a remarkable opportunity,” Weinberg said. A representative for Microsoft, which hasn’t issued debt this year, declined to comment.There are similar opportunities with Oracle, Meta and Alphabet. Despite their large debt raises, their credit default swaps are trading at high spreads relative to their risk of default, selling protection makes sense, Weinberg said. Even if the companies get downgraded, the positions should perform well because they already incorporate so much potential bad news, he said.A spokesperson for Oracle declined to comment. Spokespeople for Meta and Alphabet didn’t respond to requests for comment.Morgan Stanley, a key player in financing the artificial-intelligence race, has considered off-loading some of its data-centre exposure via a transaction known as a significant risk transfer, which can give a bank default protection for between 5% and 15% of a designated portfolio of loans. SRTs often entail selling bonds known as credit-linked notes, which can have credit derivatives tied to companies or a portfolio of loans embedded in them. If the borrowers default, the bank can get a payout to cover its loss.In this case, Morgan Stanley held preliminary talks with potential investors about an SRT tied to a portfolio of loans to businesses involved in AI infrastructure, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. A representative for Morgan Stanley declined to comment.“Banks are fully aware of the market’s recent concerns with possible overinvestment and overvaluation,” said Mark Clegg, a senior fixed-income trader at Allspring Global Investments, which advised on about $629bn as of the end of September. “It should be a shock to no one that they may be exploring hedging or risk transfer mechanisms.”Private capital firms including Ares Management Corp have been angling to take some of banks’ exposure in SRTs tied to data centres, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The firm has been talking to banks about possible transactions, the people said. Ares declined to comment.Banks are looking to create other products to allow them offload credit risk tied to hyperscalers. At least two firms have tried to put together baskets of credit derivatives tied to technology companies, akin to an equity sector exchange-traded fund, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Citadel Securities started making markets for two baskets of corporate bonds from hyperscalers, allowing investors to quickly add or reduce exposure to the companies.Adding to the urgency is the massive size of the latest debt offerings. Not too long ago, investors considered a $10bn deal in the US high-grade market a big one. Marketing it might have taken a few days, including investor conference calls and individual meetings with money managers.But with multi-trillion-dollar market-cap companies and funding needs in the hundreds of billions of dollars, a $10bn sale is a “drop in the bucket,” according to Teddy Hodgson, global co-head of investment grade debt capital markets at Morgan Stanley.“We raised $30bn for Meta in a drive-by financing,” said Hodgson, referring to bond sales that take place in a single day. “That’s not historically a commonplace event. The investor base is going to have to get used to bigger deals from the hyperscalers because of how much they’ve grown and how much this opportunity is going to cost for them to capture.”

Strong oil prices and bright rate cut prospects lift sentiments in QSE; M-cap adds QR2.92bn Strengthened oil prices and brightened hopes of rate cut in the US had their positive influence on the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE), which closed higher for the second consecutive week.The banks and telecom counters experienced higher than average demand as the 20-stock Qatar Index rose 0.64% this week which saw the Qatar Financial Markets Authority’s slew of measures, including doing away with multiple listing advisors and determining the reference price through pre-listing auction in direct listing.The positive momentum in the headline index came despite shakers outnumber movers by a slender margin.About 53% of the traded constituents were in the red in the main bourse this week which saw Mosanada Facility Management Services, which will soon be listed, plan diversification into non-sports sectors and explore expansion into other Gulf markets through strategic partnerships.The consumer goods, industrials and banking sectors accounted for about 77% of the trading volumes in the main bourse this week which saw a total of 0.22mn AlRayan Bank-sponsored exchange traded fund QATR worth QR0.5mn trade across 78 deals.The Islamic index was seen outperforming the other indices of the main market this week, which saw a total of 0.02mn Doha Bank-sponsored exchange traded fund QETF worth QR0.03mn trade across nine transactions.Market capitalisation added QR2.92bn or 0.46% to QR639.65bn on the back of mid and microcap segments this week which saw no trading of sovereign bonds and treasury bills.Trade turnover and volumes were on the decline in the main bourse, while the venture market saw increased turnover and volumes this week, which saw Qatar's commercial banks witness 6.3% year-on-year jump in total assets to QR2.13tn in October 2025.The Total Return Index rose 0.64%, the All Share Index by 0.63% and the All Islamic Index by 0.79% this week which saw Qatar report strong year-on-year expansion in cargo and container movements through Mesaieed, Doha and Al Ruwais ports in November 2025.The banks and financial services index shot up 1.31%, telecom (0.97%), insurance (0.42%) and transport (0.06%); while industrials declined 0.58%, consumer goods and services (0.57%) and real estate (0.19%) this week which saw Baladna replace Barwa Real Estate Company in the main 20-stock QSE index.Major gainers in the main market include Inma Holding, QLM, AlRayan Bank, Qatar Islamic Bank, Meeza, Ahlibank Qatar, Aamal Company, Qamco, Ooredoo, Vodafone Qatar and Milaha. In the junior bourse, Techno Q saw its shares appreciate in value this week.Nevertheless, Gulf Warehousing, Gulf International Services, Baladna, Mannai Corporation, Qatar Oman Investment, Medicare Group, Widam Food, Qatar National Cement, Industries Qatar, Ezdan, Mazaya Qatar and Nakilat were among the shakers in the main bourse this week.The main market saw 33% plunge in trade volumes to 545.33mn shares, 38% in value to QR1.62bn and 31% in deals to 101,736 this week.In the venture market, trade volumes more than doubled to 0.56mn equities and value also more than doubled to QR1.23mn on more than tripled transactions to 174.

Qatar’s facilities management (FM) industry is slated to see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.1% to $20.3bn in 2024-30 with accelerating urbanisation and realty sector.The FM industry in Qatar has experienced robust growth, driven by the country’s ongoing infrastructure developments and economic diversification efforts under Qatar National Vision 2030 and propelled by the preparation for the World Cup 2022, according to the listing prospectus of Mosanada Facilities Management Services (MFMS).These initiatives led to the development of large-scale infrastructure projects, including sporting facilities, healthcare facilities, education, hotels, and transportation systems, which created significant demand for sophisticated FM services to ensure that these facilities are maintained to the highest standards and operate efficiently, it said.Quoting Prescient Strategic Intelligence, the prospectus said Qatari FM market was valued in 2024 at about $7.3bn and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 19.1% during 2024 to 2030 to reach $ 20.3bn."The Qatari FM market is highly competitive and fragmented, with both local and international companies actively participating," it said.The key participants in the Qatar market include Elegancia Facility Management (Estithmar Holdings), Waseef Facility Management, Facilities Management & Maintenance (FMM) Company and SNC Lavalin.These companies offer a range of services that include hard FM (focusing on the management and maintenance of a facility’s physical infrastructure, which includes the upkeep of essential systems such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), electrical systems, plumbing, and fire safety) and soft FM (involving services that enhance the day-to-day operational environment of a facility and include cleaning, security, waste management, landscaping, and catering.One of the significant trends in the Qatari FM industry is the shift towards outsourcing, with a growing preference for bundled and IFM (integrated facility management) services."This trend is driven by the need for cost efficiency, better service quality, and the ability to focus on core business activities," the prospectus said.The introduction of freehold property ownership for non-Qataris has supported the real estate market, further increasing the demand for professional FM services, it added."As urbanisation accelerates and the real estate sector expands, the FM industry in Qatar is poised for continued growth, underpinned by the integration of advanced technologies and the adoption of sustainable practices," it said.Parallel to these developments, the Qatari FM market is witnessing a growing emphasis on sustainability and energy efficiency, which is becoming increasingly central to FM operations.Driven by government initiatives and the rising demand for green buildings, FM companies are expanding their services to include the management of complex systems like energy usage, water conservation, and waste management.The growth of the green buildings market in Qatar, supported by established building codes, assessment systems such as the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS), and initiatives like Qatar Sustainability Week by the Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC), is broadening the scope of work for FM companies.This shift not only aligns with global environmental goals but also positions the Qatari FM industry as a leader in sustainable FM practices, ensuring that facilities are both efficient and environmentally responsible.

The hunt is on for new Asian equity winners from the artificial intelligence trade, as a technological shift and bubble fears reshape the investment universe.As the massive stock rally unleashed by the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT enters its fourth year, leading regional beneficiaries including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and SK Hynix Inc are flagging. Investor attention is turning instead to smaller, lesser-known names such as MediaTek Inc and Zhongji Innolight Co.High-profile firms that are still essential to the nuts-and-bolts requirements of AI are likely to see their stocks bounce back after some cooling off. But they could start sharing the spotlight as focus progresses from training of large language models to everyday application of the technology — as well as how to bring down the costs.“The market is pricing in a new narrative, a new paradigm, which is: what if the dominant LLM isn’t just OpenAI? And that’s why everything is happening,” said Andy Wong, head of multi-asset investment at Pictet Asset Management in Hong Kong. “You need to digest what’s going on, recalibrate, and then apply a new risk premium.”The chain reaction was set off last month with Alphabet Inc.’s launch of an upgraded Gemini model and its reported deals with other firms for its in-house AI chips. Amazon.com Inc.’s latest accelerator added to the shift away from AI stock trades that had concentrated on OpenAI and dominant semiconductor firm Nvidia Corp.Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp, seen as a proxy for OpenAI given the close ties between the two companies, saw its stock slump 38% in November to cap its worst month in 25 years. Shares of Nvidia’s key foundry TSMC and memory provider SK Hynix fell 4% each last month, letting some steam out of their big rallies.While ChatGPT is being threatened by a growing host of competitors, Nvidia’s AI training processors are losing market attention as application-specific integrated circuits come more to the fore. With that, investors are becoming concerned about negative implications for product pricing.If LLMs become commoditised, “the ones with cheaper costs will become the winner,” said Han Sangkyoon, chief investment officer at Quad Investment Management in Seoul. He expects the next six months to be crucial in “how the bubble created by Nvidia and OpenAI could burst.”Rather than completely abandon the AI trade, investors are moving to other stocks. MediaTek, a Taiwan-based chip designer working with Alphabet, logged its best week since 2002 following the Gemini debut. South Korea’s IsuPetasys Co, which supplies printed circuit boards for Alphabet, climbed 18% to a fresh record high last week.Such moves highlight how, regardless of the ultimate brand name or which US megacap sits at the top of the supply chain, there is a string of Asian suppliers that can reap rewards.“Around 90% of the hardware manufactured globally, which is fitting into data centres — servers, testing environment, anything you need from manufacturing the chips, memory cards, or even testing, cooling systems — all comes from Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Thailand, and even mainland China,” said Egon Vavrek, head of emerging markets and Asia equities at BlackRock Inc.While the US and China are competing in the AI arms race, their supply chains are still somewhat dependent on each other. Shandong-based optical transceiver maker Zhongji revenue, for example, gets 22% of its revenue from Alphabet and 11% from Amazon. Its stock rose 11% last week to a new peak.Not that the established leaders of the AI boom are done. In a note Friday, Goldman Sachs analysts led by Timothy Moe concluded that the sector is not currently in a bubble, and even if it enters one “the negative impact on Asian tech companies would come later and most likely at higher share price levels.”TSMC has the most advanced chipmaking technology and provides outsourced manufacturing for all the major players. It’s shares are still poised for a third-straight year of gains that has taken its market value to more than $1tn.SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics Co. together account for over 90% of global market share in the high-bandwidth memory that is another essential component of AI technology, according to research from Macquarie Group Ltd.Even as SK Hynix shares have more than tripled this year, bearish hedges have dropped. Short interest in the stock has fallen to 0.6% of its free float from more than 3% in May, according to data from S&P Global Inc.Investors are always looking for new ideas though, whether due to newsflow, nervousness over valuations of outperformers, or even constraints on holdings in their portfolios.“AI remains front and centre of tech investors’ minds, even after three years into the theme,” said Timothy Fung, head of Asia equity strategy at JPMorgan Private Bank in Hong Kong. “Opportunities are evolving across the AI supply chain, but remain linked to physical infrastructure.”

Japan’s households unexpectedly cut spending for the first time in six months, in a sign of the fragility of domestic demand as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) prepares to consider raising borrowing costs later this month.Outlays by households adjusted for inflation fell 3% in October from a year earlier, led by spending declines in transport and housing, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications reported yesterday. Economists had expected a 1% gain.Private spending is a key component in the BoJ’s goal of achieving a virtuous economic cycle in which wage gains help fuel demand-led price increases. Domestic consumption has expanded for three straight quarters, albeit at a subdued pace. Still, that hasn’t been enough to prevent a contraction in the third quarter as US tariffs dragged on economic growth. Revised data for Japan’s gross domestic product is due Monday.“You can see how consumption remains weak,” said Masato Koike, senior economist at Sompo Institute Plus. “Given the level of inflation, it’s difficult for spending to grow from disposable income, and outlays on food and cars are declining.”The BoJ said in its October outlook report that private consumption will likely stay more or less flat for now before gradually returning to “a moderate increasing trend, with a continued rise in employee income.” The negative number Friday will add an element of complexity as the BoJ moves toward its next rate hike, but isn’t expected to derail that trajectory.BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda gave a signal Monday that the board is moving toward a hike as soon as Dec. 19, by explicitly mentioning the fact that the bank will consider a rate hike. Overnight index swaps point to about a 90% probability of a December rate increase.“Weak consumption is a headwind for rate hikes,” said Koike. “But at the same time the reason for the fragility is inflation encouraged by a weak yen, so a December rate hike is basically expected at this point.”Consumption makes up more than half of Japan’s GDP and will be crucial to whether the economy returns to a growth path after recording the first contraction in six quarters during the summer.Data due Monday are expected to show economic growth in the three months through September was weaker than the preliminary report, when exports slumped in the face of US tariffs and private consumption offered only anaemic support. The capital spending component is forecast to be revised lower after recent data for the period were feeble.Looking ahead, the strength of consumption will depend largely on the interplay between prices and wages. The nation’s inflation gauge has stayed at or above the BoJ’s 2% target for 43 months, the longest stretch since 1992. Data Monday may show that real wages fell for a 10th month in October, underscoring how steady gains in nominal pay aren’t keeping up with price growth.To ease the burden on households, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last month announced ¥2.9tn ($18.7bn) in price relief measures as part of an economic package, including subsidies for utility bills and reductions in some taxes. The government estimates these steps will together shave an average 0.7 percentage point off the nation’s overall inflation index between February to April.The effectiveness of these measures will likely influence Takaichi’s popularity, as persistent inflation fuelled voter frustration that led to successive setbacks in two national elections and helped remove her predecessors from office. A poll conducted by Nikkei last weekend showed her approval rating at 75%, remaining high by historical standards.Wage trends will also shape private spending. In the latest development, several major labour unions formally announced their targets for the annual pay negotiations culminating in March. Most are maintaining their goals after securing the largest pay gains in more than three decades earlier this year, suggesting momentum remains intact.“Looking ahead, I expect private consumption to be on a recovery trend,” said Sompo’s Koike. “Nominal pay continues to rise at a high pace and given inflation is expected to be more subdued spending is likely to recover with an improvement in real wages.”

Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) president Enunina “Nina” Mangio has invited Qatari investors to explore opportunities in the Philippines, particularly in agricultural technology, infrastructure, and technology transfer.Mangio was recently in Qatar to lead the PCCI delegation during meetings with different private and public sector entities, including the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), Qatar Chamber, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), and tourism officials.“We are inviting the Qataris to explore what the Philippines has to offer as a possible investment opportunity for agricultural technology, infrastructure, and at the same time, technology transfer of any kind,” Mangio told Gulf Times in an exclusive interview.Mangio underscored the significance of the meetings of the PCCI delegation with Qatari officials, describing these engagements as vital steps in strengthening bilateral business ties and opening new channels for cooperation.According to Mangio, the PCCI mission comprises 40 delegates representing about 30 companies across diverse sectors, including labour, real estate, monorails, construction, and water technology.Mangio explained that the chamber’s advocacy focuses on giving small and medium enterprises (SMEs) the chance to expand abroad through partnerships, trade exchanges, and technology transfer.“Since we are more concerned with the future of our small and medium enterprises, we want them to have the opportunity to expand to other countries and at the same time to be... in partnership or trade exchange or technology transfer,” she explained.She also highlighted a specific technology pitch for Qatar: seawater treatment for drinking water without brine solution. “This technology is coming from the US and brought to the Philippines, and we have some engineers who are trained in this field, so we want to bring it to Qatar,” she emphasised.Mangio also reassured potential investors, especially from Qatar, about the Philippines’ business climate: “The Philippines is a very peaceful country, and we can be considered as one of the best investment hubs in the Southeast Asian region.“The Philippine government is effectively navigating economic challenges to ensure that investors remain unaffected. We are committed to alleviating their concerns by streamlining the ease of doing business while actively addressing any issues that may arise,” she pointed out.Mangio also co-chaired the Qatar-Philippines Business Meeting alongside Qatar Chamber chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani, who represented the Qatar side. Both officials reviewed the economic and commercial relations between the two countries.The meeting, which also discussed the investment climate and the available opportunities across various sectors, was attended by first vice chairman Mohammed bin Towar al-Kuwari, second vice-chairman Rashid bin Hamad al-Athba, and Philippine ambassador Mardomel Celo D Melicor, as well as many business owners from both sides.Speaking at the meeting, Sheikh Khalifa lauded Qatari-Filipino relations, saying they witnessed “remarkable development” year-on-year, and were further strengthened by the visit of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Manila in April 2024, marking a qualitative shift and culminating in the signing of several important agreements.Sheikh Khalifa stressed that the strong alignment between Qatar National Vision 2030 and the Development Plan of the Republic of the Philippines “forms a solid foundation for building a long-term strategic partnership.”He noted that there are several key sectors that constitute the basis for cooperation between the two countries, such as agriculture and food security, renewable energy, technology and innovation, labour, healthcare, digital transformation, infrastructure development, transportation and water networks, as well as smart city applications and others.