As the country prepares to host football’s Fifa World Cup in 2022, Qatar’s construction market has faced two key challenges over the past five years. These are the economic headwinds of lower energy prices, as well as restrictions on trade with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt. When the trade restrictions began in June 2017, there were concerns that construction activity would grind to a halt as it would be cut off from its existing supply chain. Ultimately, these concerns were short-lived, and construction, as well as the economy in general, managed to establish new supplies from markets that remained open to trade. The market is currently dominated by local contractors that have grown with the market and benefitted from the recent absence of regional competition from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and to a lesser extent Egypt and Bahrain.

As the market completes projects ahead of the World Cup 2022, there are concerns about what will keep the construction industry busy beyond 2022. While there is still a drop-off in activity expected during and immediately after the event, there is growing visibility on what the longer-term projects will be.