Haydar Abdul Reda Mashadi looks at utilities and infrastructure in Qatar in exclusive Oxford Business Group interview

"The government makes every effort to ensure that the planning for utilities takes place at the same time as the planning for construction," he said.

"But regrettably some companies go ahead without informing the authorities of their likely completion date. This is sadly a common problem in Qatar."

Mashhadi noted that the government has recently promised an extra QR130bn to upgrade infrastructure, and it was hoped this would go some way to resolving the problem.

"With the number and scale of projects going on, we all have to focus on this problem," he said.
"However, the population of Qatar has grown extremely quickly in the last three to four years to 1.5m, so this is certainly a problem that has to be solved."

Mashhadi, reviewing the housing market in terms of prices and supply, asserted that problems arise due to high demand in certain areas.
"Additionally, a number of areas of land that are now set aside for foreigners have been bought for investment purposes, and in some cases sold on quickly," he said. "We have an open market now and prices are increasing. It will be several years before the prices of housing begin to plateau and be ruled by simple supply and demand."

He added: "The catalyst will be the availability of suitable land for the middle-income bracket. I think there is a high demand and a lot of potential. We are seeing these kinds of developments on the outskirts of Doha, especially villa-type dwellings. Qatar has a good strategy to cater for a variety of incoms."

The interview with Mashhadi, will be carried in full in The Report, is one of a series of exclusive interviews with key officials and business leaders in what is considered the most extensive, independent, unbiased and authoritative review of Qatar available.

Rated as the premier guide for foreign direct investment into the country's vibrant economy, The Report is an invaluable guide to the many facets of Qatar, including its, macroeconomics, infrastructure, political landscape, banking and sectoral developments, and presents a remarkably in depth profile of the country.

OBG is working in collaboration with local partners to compile the research: Qatar National Bank for capital markets and Clyde and Co for legal affairs.

The 200-page publication, with an international distribution of 71,000, is being produced by a team of six OBG analysts based in Doha for six months, who conducted some two hundred interviews with leading political and economic figures.

26% of its subscribers are in energy, 24% in financial institutions, 23% in real estate and construction, 14% in industry, and 10% in IT and telecommunications.

25% of them are in Europe, 21% in GCC and the Middle East, 20% in North America, 15% in Asia, and 13% in North Africa.

Available in print form and online, The Report: Qatar 2008 is part of the range of OBG's publications, which are renowned as leading sources of information on developing and emerging economies around the world.