GREEN SPENDING: Government expenditure on eco-friendly projects will soften the blow of any slowdown in the industry in

Increased government expenditure in the environmental sector in the Middle East will soften the impact of slower growth in the market in 2009, according to research and consultancy firm Frost & Sullivan.

Valued at around $12bn in the Middle East, the environmental market is made up of alternative energy, energy efficiency, water and wastewater treatment, solid waste management and green building technologies.

“After seeing a year of exemplary growth in 2008, the market is expected to tone down in 2009,” said YS Shashidhar, vice president of South Asia and Middle East for the firm.

Concerns had been raised that the execution of some projects, especially in the GCC, may be delayed because of a tightening in availability of finances and increasing costs amid the global economic downturn.

But Shashidhar said: “The market is expected to ride over this rough economic terrain on the back of increased governmental expenditure in the environment sector.”

In its 2009 budget, for water, agriculture and infrastructure Saudi Arabia allocated SR 35.4bn, 24.4 percent higher than last year’s amount. A large part of the allocation was expected to go towards raising municipal wastewater treatment capacity, with only around 40 percent of houses connected to a sewage network in the kingdom, the company said.

Qatar is expected to allocate around 40 percent of its budgeted expenditure to developmental projects.

The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, had unveiled Abu Dhabi Environment Strategy 2008-2012, which set ambitious targets for environmental compliance in air quality, water resource management, hazardous materials and waste management and biodiversity management.

After sluggishness in the market in the first half of 2009 due to uncertainty in the global business environment, by the end of 2009 the market was likely to recover lost ground, Frost & Sullivan said.

Growth in the building technology (BT) market in the Middle East was expected to slow in 2009, especially in the UAE and Bahrain, as the industry felt the strain of a cooling in the building sector, according to the firm.

The industry would continue to grow, albeit with lower growth rates, in the first two quarters of 2009 as on-going projects and related orders continued.

An infrastructure boom on the back of huge oil surplus revenues had been the prime driver for the Middle East BT market, which had grown at over 20 percent since 2004, it said.

The overall BT market for the Middle East was estimated at around $2.5bn in 2008, with GCC alone clocking in close to $1.3bn.

The impact of the construction slowdown on the BT industry would be more pronounced in countries such as the UAE and Bahrain, Frost & Sullivan said. Qatar would be less affected on account of its oil and gas wealth and sound investment in infrastructure.

Major projects in Saudi Arabia and Oman were expected to continue as well thanks to financial backing from their governments.

The Middle East was expected to offer good long-term prospects, though the region may witness a moderate growth of 13-18 percent across various countries and BT segments in 2009 and 2010, the firm said.

by Tom Arnold 06 February 2009, Arabian Business

As has been mentioned on other postings – Qatar is probably the best place in the world to ride out the recession. The economy is growing at a slightly lower pace, but still growing – even building projects are continuing as they are mostly funded by government funds, so not being hit as Dubai has been.

Jobs in Health, Education, IT and Environmental Sectors are growing and well funded.

If you can get an ‘Ex Pat Package’ – that’s the route to go – this should include a salary, housing allowance, set up loan and car loan, plus flights home once a year.

Rent is high, but this is rumoured to be coming down – there are plenty of rental properties available at the moment from fully furnished to semi furnished (white goods only) and everything from small flats to large villas are to be had

Eating out is very reasonable, especially if you avoid the big hotels – although they are good for the odd treat!

Most staff in shops, restaurants etc are english speaking, the majority coming from India, Pakistan and the Phillipines, so learning Arabic is nice but not essential.

The culture is more traditional than Dubai, so please take care of local sensitivities – but living and working here you will find yourself in a safe, friendly community

A good site to get more detail from – and a sense of the ex pat community – is www.qatarliving.com just about every question you have will have been asked already, so do use the search engine on the site first before posting a question.

Please post any specific questions on this thread

DOHA: Defying the global recession which began spreading its tentacles late last year hitting businesses the world over, companies listed on the Qatari bourse have reported enviable financials for 2008.

The collective net profits of the 43 entities listed on the Doha Securities Market (DSM) soared to an incredible QR28.5bn, showing a 33.4 percent increase over 2007. Their profit figures in 2007 were QR21.4bn. According to a statement posted on the website of the DSM, “All the listed companies have disclosed their financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2008.”

Banking giant Qatar National Bank (QNB) contributed a major share to the sector’s profits. It reported record net profits of QR3.65bn last year, up from QR2.5bn in 2007, showing an impressive 45.7 percent rise.

Source: The Peninsula Online Newspaper

Qatar is expected to see a nine percent grwoth in its gross domestic product growth in real terms in 2009 despite the global economic slowdown, a new report says.

Analysts at the International Bank of Qatar (IBQ) said the growth would be mainly due to increasing gas production.

IBQ estimated that Qatar’s gas production increased by up to 40 percent in 2008 with the gas sector doubling in size last year, partly on higher energy prices, Gulf Times reported recently.

Qatar is to host a groundbreaking conference to showcase the country’s carbon dioxide emission reduction initiatives. Titled “Carbon World Doha 2009″, the two-day conference will highlight Qatar’s emerging government-industry partnership to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as well as address key issues in Qatar’s evolving carbon market.

Qatar was the first GCC country to join the World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Reduction (GGFR) project, aiming at reducing CO2 emissions by exercising tight control on gas flaring, a major contributor to the country’s CO2 emissions.

Qatar Investment Authority was also the first to confirm its investment of £150m in British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s £250m venture capital fund for renewable energy projects.

Qatar has also launched an ambitious $70m, 10-year joint research project with Shell, Qatar Petroleum, Imperial College London and Qatar Science and Technology Park. The project will involve the investigation of carbon capture and sequestration in carbonate reservoirs by a team of 20 Imperial College London researchers.

The “Carbon World Doha 2009″ will examine and map the latest GCC polices, research and economic initiatives in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, expanding carbon capture and storage capabilities and providing an active carbon trading platform while maintaining the GCC countries’ position as the world’s largest oil and gas producers.

The meeting will discuss critical issues like integrating business with a low-carbon economy, the government’s perspectives in carbon management and policy initiatives, managing emission reduction and economic growth, perspectives in emergent trends in the global carbon market, developing sustainable development goals with carbon management, climate change mitigation and its challenges and initiatives; carbon trading trends and evolving patterns and voluntary carbon market prospects.

We are waiting for confirmation of the date of this conference which was orginally scheduled for April 09