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Why is Qatar, the host of the World Cup, the richest? _Securities News_Stocks_Securities Star

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(Original title: Why is Qatar, the host of the World Cup, the richest?)

News from the Associated Finance Press, November 23 (Editor Zhao Hao)At the opening ceremony of this World Cup, the mascot “Raib” caused discussions among netizens and fans.

It is obvious that Raib’s design was inspired by the traditional Arab costume hijab, which reminds Chinese netizens of the joke “I am the richest in the world with a piece of cloth on my head”.

When it comes to “this piece of cloth”, most people think of rich people from oil-producing countries represented by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In fact, the per capita wealth of Qatar, the host of this World Cup, is much higher than the previous two.

According to World Bank data, Qatar’s per capita GDP in 2020 will reach US$89,948.60, ranking first among Arab countries in the Middle East for a long time, and often appearing in the top ten range of global rankings.

The United Arab Emirates ranked second with US$69,957.60, a big gap behind Qatar in per capita GDP, followed by Kuwait (US$51,962.00) and Saudi Arabia (US$46,762.50).

Although Qatar’s total GDP is only 15% of Saudi Arabia’s, its population is less than 9% of Saudi Arabia’s. In addition to its small population base, the unemployment rate in this country of just under 3 million people is less than one percent, among the lowest in the world, and no residents are below the poverty line.

Diplomatically, Qatar is an important force in the Arab world and has good relations with the United States and some European countries. In order to compete for the right to speak in the region, Qatar strongly promotes Al Jazeera, which has attracted widespread attention from the Middle East.

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The natural gas giant that broke away from OPEC and went it alone

Geographically, Qatar is located on the peninsula to the east of the Red Sea and the south-west coast of the Persian Gulf. Most of its territory is surrounded by the Persian Gulf, and only its southern border borders Saudi Arabia.

Qatar’s area is very small, only 11,521 square kilometers, equivalent to the size of Tianjin, China, but it has energy resources that do not match the size of the country.

Qatar’s proven oil reserves are 2.5 billion tons, ranking thirteenth in the world, which seems not impressive enough; but the country’s natural gas reserves are 2.47 billion cubic meters, ranking third in the world, second only to Russia and Iran .

Qatar’s natural gas reserves are concentrated in the northern gas field, located between the country and Iran, which Iran calls the South Pars gas field. The total storage capacity of the gas field is estimated at 51 trillion cubic meters, in addition to about 50 billion barrels of condensed oil, which is the largest hydrocarbon reserve in the world.

(Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration)

The North-South Pars gas field allows Qatar to maintain relations with Iran, and it is one of the few Arab countries that has good relations with Iran. But at the same time, Qatar is committed to strengthening diplomatic relations with the United States and increasing its leverage against Saudi Arabia.

In 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Qatar and imposed sanctions and blockade on it. It was not until January last year that Saudi Arabia and other countries announced the restoration of full diplomatic relations with Qatar.

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In 2019, Qatar suddenly announced its withdrawal from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), claiming that the country wanted to concentrate on developing and increasing natural gas production, which brought considerable impact to Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members.

In 2021, Qatar LNG will be exported to 25 destinations around the world, of which about 54.2 million tons will be exported to the Asian market, accounting for 67.6%, and about 16.4 million tons will be exported to the European market, accounting for 20.5%.

However, due to the limited reserves of oil and natural gas, the country is committed to seeking economic transformation and has launched the “National Vision 2030” plan. s country.

And this World Cup happens to be the best window of opportunity for Qatar to expand its international influence.

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