Germans miss out in Qatar

In a report from Doha on 14 April 2005, the paper is quoting Sheikh Hamad Naser Al-Tani, General Manager of the Qatar Industrial Bank as saying: "German companies miss out on important contract chances in the gas and oil industry as well as in the chemical, pharmaceutical and the construction industries".

The Handelsblatt special correspondent notes that the rapidly developing Gulf Emirate is going to invest $230bn in the next seven years in weighty projects, "which creates an eldorado for international corporations eagerly queuing at the doorsteps of the Qatari sheikhs; German firms, however, make only rare appearances."

Only a handful of German companies have offices in Doha."Response is almost zero" in the bitter words of the German Ambassador, who is working hard to bring German business into the country.

The only positive exceptions are ThyssenKrupp and Siemens, who have extended their presence in Qatar not least with a view to promoting the magnetic levitation Transrapid transport project, and also the Federal German GTZ organization is there on a long-term basis, looking after vocational training in Doha.

Hochtief in conjunction with Siemens is trying to win a partial construction contract for Doha's new international airport. Otherwise, it's the French, Japanese and the Americans, who dominate the race.

A diplomat observed that Qatar sometimes sees the relationship between the two countries as "a kind of love unrequited by Germany". In the case of the construction of a fertiliser plant, for instance, Germany was preferred bidder, but in the end a Norwegian company pocketed the contract.