Foreign relations of Qatar is conducted through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Arab states were among the first to recognize Qatar, and the country gained admittance to the United Nations and the Arab League after achieving independence in 1971. The country was an early member of OPEC and a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Diplomatic missions to Qatar are based in its capital, Doha.
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council, is a regional, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The council's main headquarters is located in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The Charter of the GCC was signed on 25 May 1981, formally establishing the institution.
Ooredoo QSC is a Qatari multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Doha. Ooredoo provides mobile, wireless, wire line, and content services with market share in domestic and international telecommunication markets, and in business and residential markets.
HSBC Bank Middle East Limited is the largest and most widely represented international bank in the Middle East.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani is Emir of Qatar, reigning since 2013.
Qatar officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares its sole land border with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf. The Gulf of Bahrain, an inlet of the Persian Gulf, separates Qatar from nearby Bahrain. The capital is Doha, home to over 80% of the country's inhabitants, and the land area is mostly made up of flat, low-lying desert.
EFG Holding S.A.E. is an Egyptian financial services company present in the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia regions and specializes in securities brokerage, asset management, investment banking, private equity and research in addition to finance lease, factoring, microfinance, Financial technology, mortgage, and insurance. EFG Holding serves a range of clients including sovereign wealth funds, endowments, corporations, financial institutions, high-net-worth clients and individual customers. EFG Hermes is listed on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) and London (LSE) stock exchanges. EFG Hermes has offices in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Pakistan, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan, Kenya, Nigeria, UK, United States and Bangladesh with over 4,500 people from 25 nationalities. They serve clients from the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and the United States. Currently, EFG Holding is listed as number 13 in Forbes' Top 50 Listed Companies in Egypt 2023.
Kuwait Finance House (KFH) was established in the State of Kuwait, in 1977, as the first bank operating in accordance with the Islamic Shari'a rulings. KFH is listed in Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE), with a market capitalization of $8.2 billion as of May 2016. Assets total $55.52 billion and deposits amount to $34.97 billion
The History of Jews in Qatar is relatively limited, as unlike some of the neighboring countries in the Gulf of Persia, there is no documented settlement of Jews in the area now known as Qatar.
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange is a stock exchange in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Salam International Investment Limited Q.P.S.C. is a publicly-listed Qatar shareholding company. Salam International operates through its subsidiaries in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Palestine, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan and Lebanon. The company is headquartered in Doha, Qatar.
Qatar established unofficial trade relations with the State of Israel in 1996, the first amongst all nations of the Arabian Peninsula after Oman reportedly did, concurrently with Israel–Jordan peace treaty. Until 2009, Qatar and Israel maintained trade relations, but due to Operation Cast Lead, Qatar broke the trade with Israel.
The State of Qatar and the Republic of Turkey established bilateral relations in 1972. There has been ongoing cooperation and dialogue in regional and international issues since the 2010s, particularly in the Syrian Civil War and the Egyptian Crisis. Both countries also support the same groups in post-Gaddafi Libya. Most recently, Turkey provided diplomatic and food support to Qatar during the 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis. Some political analysts claim that bilateral relations are mostly limited to political and military affinity, referring to the low trade volume, lack of trade agreements and absence of Turkish think tanks in Qatar.
Ghanim Bin Saad Al Saad is a Qatari businessperson and the Chairman of GSSG Holding.
The Qatari-Bahraini War, also known as the Qatari War of Independence, was an armed conflict that took place in 1867 and 1868 in the Persian Gulf. The conflict pitted Bahrain and Abu Dhabi against Qatar. The conflict was the most flagrant violation of the 1835 maritime truce, requiring British intervention. The two emirates agreed to a truce, mediated by the United Kingdom, which led to Britain recognizing the Al-Thani family of Qatar as the semi-independent ruler of Qatar. The conflict resulted in wide-scale destruction in both emirates.
Unibeton is a building materials company based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Unibeton has annual production capacity of 10 million cubic meters and over 3000 employees. Unibeton has operations in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and India. Unibeton Ready-mix is part of Al Fara’a Group. The group comprises the construction, property and related services. Unibeton Ready Mix is one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of ready-mix concrete in GCC specialized in self-compacting concrete, low-cost, light weight, high strength, lean and insulated, low carbon emission - green concrete.
Yousef Hussain Kamal is a Qatari economist and politician who served as the Minister of Economy and Finance from 1998 to 2013.
Healthcare standards in Qatar are generally high. Qatari citizens are covered by a national health insurance scheme, while expatriates must either receive health insurance from their employers, or in the case of the self-employed, purchase insurance. Qatar's healthcare spending is among the highest in the Middle East, with $4.7 billion being invested in healthcare in 2014. This was a $2.1 billion increase from 2010. The premier healthcare provider in the country is the Hamad Medical Corporation, established by the government as a non-profit healthcare provider, which runs a network of hospitals, an ambulance services, and a home healthcare service, all of which are accredited by the Joint Commission.
India–Qatar relations refers to the bilateral ties between India and Qatar. India maintains an embassy in Doha, while Qatar maintains an embassy in New Delhi and a consulate in Mumbai.
The Qatar diplomatic crisis was a high-profile incident involving the deterioration of ties between Qatar and the Arab League between 2017 and 2021. It began when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt simultaneously severed their bilateral relations with Qatar and subsequently banned Qatar-registered aircraft and Qatari ships from utilizing their sovereign territory by air, land, and sea; this involved the Saudis' closure of Qatar's only land crossing, initiating a de facto blockade of the country. Tensions between the two sides came to a close in January 2021, following a resolution between the Saudis and the Qataris.
