Today, the Qatar Chamber issued the monthly economic bulletin for February 2021, which includes an analysis of the most prominent trends in the Qatari economy as well as a report on the statistics related to Qatar’s foreign trade and private sector trade for December 2020.
The economic bulletin included the monthly report on the foreign trade of the State of Qatar, which included an analysis of the country’s foreign trade data for the month of December 2020, and private sector trade through certificates of origin issued by the Chamber to Qatari companies to export their goods abroad.
The report indicated that according to the data of the Planning and Statistics Authority of the State of Qatar, the total volume of foreign merchandise trade for the month of December 2020 amounted to about (25.6) billion riyals, an increase of 6.2 percent compared to the month of November, when it was (24.1) billion riyals.
The report pointed out that this increase came as a result of the increase in the value of exports, as the total value (domestic origin and re-export) during the month of December reached about (17.1) billion riyals, an increase of 3 percent over its value in the month of November, when it reached about (16.6) billion riyals. Riyals. As for imports during the month of December, their total value amounted to about (8.5) billion riyals, with an increase in their total value by (13.3%) compared to the month of November, when their value reached about (7.5) billion riyals.
According to the report, the trade balance achieved during December 2020 a surplus of about (8.6) billion riyals, a decrease of 5.5 percent from what it was in November 2020, during which the trade balance achieved a surplus of about (9.1) billion riyals.
The Republic of China is the first trade partner at the level of the total volume of the foreign trade of the State of Qatar with the various countries of the world during the month of December 2020 as well, as the total trade exchange between them and the State of Qatar amounted to about 4.1 billion riyals, which represents 16 percent of the total Qatar’s foreign trade.
The economic bulletin also included a report on the Asian Cooperation Dialogue, as the State of Qatar is interested in this dialogue due to its belief in its importance in strengthening relations between member states, as the Asian region represents a strategic dimension of the State of Qatar and the Asian continent represents the largest commercial partner of the State of Qatar, as it receives 80 percent of Qatari exports. Five Asian countries top the list of the most important trading partners of the State of Qatar in terms of exports.
The report indicated that the Qatari interest in the Asian dialogue is evident through the active participation and various initiatives presented by the State of Qatar, to achieve the objectives of the dialogue, which was reflected in its prominent presence in all the ministerial meetings of the dialogue and related events, the most recent of which was the seventeenth ministerial meeting that was held remotely last month. The State of Qatar presented a high-profile initiative by hosting the Asian Cooperation Dialogue Businessmen Forum to create a business platform for the private sector dialogue, in order to enhance the important role of small and medium-sized enterprises in Asia as the engine for generating growth and prosperity throughout Asia in a sustainable manner.
The initiative was greatly welcomed by the countries participating in the meeting, and on the basis of that initiative, the first conference of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the member states of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue was held, in which the Qatar Chamber participated, where the chamber reviewed the investment opportunities that are rich in them. Qatari economy. In order to achieve the goals of the dialogue, and as a culmination of this growing role of the State of Qatar in supporting it and affirming its great interest in it, the countries of the dialogue welcomed the announcement and the adoption of the State of Qatar to host the third summit of the dialogue during the year 2021.
As for the exports of the private sector, the report indicated that the value of its exports during the month of December 2020 according to the certificates of origin issued by the Chamber amounted to about (1,333) million riyals, compared to about (1,175) million riyals recorded last November, with an increase on a monthly basis. It was 13.4 percent.
According to the report, this improvement was driven by the large increase in exports on the model of the Gulf Cooperation Council certificate, which achieved a significant increase of 286.2%, as its value increased from about (99) million riyals to about (382) million riyals, this is in addition to the slight increase in exports. According to the unified certificate model for the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to Singapore, which amounted to 13.3 percent, however, the relative weight of this model at 0.9 percent reduces its impact on the private sector export growth index.
This is at a time when exports decreased on the certificates of both the general origin model and the Arab region. The general origin model with a large relative weight, which represents about 60 percent of the total value of exports, its certificates decreased by 12.9 percent, and the Arab region model, which has a relative weight of 4.0 percent, decreased the value of Its exports increased by 14 percent, while the preference model (relative weight of 6.1 percent) maintained the same level it reached last November.
The report indicated that the total value of private sector exports during the year 2020 amounted to about 14.9 billion riyals, compared to 21.6 billion riyals in the past year 2019, with a decline of about 30 percent, affected by the repercussions of the spread of the Corona virus, which negatively affected global trade.
The report pointed out that the analysis of private sector exports during the month of December 2020 on the basis of the highest and lowest level of exports during the year 2020 gives an important indicator that measures the ability of the private sector and the Qatari economy in general to overcome the repercussions of Covid-19 and return to pre-crisis.
In this context, the report indicated that private sector exports achieved in December 2020 the highest level during the past seven months since April 2020, which recorded the lowest level of exports during this year affected by precautionary measures to combat the Covid 19 pandemic, as the rate of increase in December reached 133 percent. Compared to April.
When analyzing private sector exports data according to the commodities that were exported during the month of December 2020 and comparing them with their values during the previous month (November), we find that the industrial gases commodity has increased the value of its exports significantly, topping the list of the nine main commodities with a relative weight of 30.4%, of which the Its value is about (405) million riyals, compared to a value of about (164) million riyals, which was dealt with in November, an increase of 146.6%.
The report indicated that the Sultanate of Oman topped the list of the most important Qatari private sector exports for the month of December 2020, with a rate of 27.13 percent, as it received exports worth (362) million riyals, followed by India, which received exports of (217) million riyals, at a rate of 16.3 percent, then the Netherlands. Which received exports amounting to about (124) million riyals, at a rate of 9.34 percent, and in fourth place came Singapore with a performance rate of 8.95 percent, as it received exports of about (119) million riyals, and fifth, the Turkish Republic, whose markets received exports of about (109) Million Riyals, a rate of 8.21%.
As for the most important partners according to regions and economic blocs that represented destinations for exports of the Qatari private sector during the month of December 2020, the report indicated that the group of Asian countries (except for the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Arab countries) still tops the list by receiving a value of about (658) million riyals, Which is equivalent to 49.4 percent of total exports, then the Gulf Cooperation Council Group second, with exports amounting to about (384) million riyals, or by 28.8 percent, followed by the European Union group with 15.6 percent, and the value of exports amounted to about (207) million riyals, then The group of Arab countries (excluding the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council) that received exports from the Qatari private sector amounted to about 62 million riyals, at a rate of 4.5 percent. The United States of America ranked fifth with an absorption rate of 1.3 percent, with exports value of about (17) million riyals, then the group of African countries (excluding Arab countries) ranked sixth with a rate of 0.36 percent, with an export value of about (5) million riyals, then seventh, a group of other American countries by 0.08 percent, and the value of exports amounted to about (1.0) One million riyals, and finally in the eighth place came the group of other European countries (except for the European Union countries) that received about 0.640 million riyals of these exports, which is equivalent to 0.05 percent of the total exports, while the group of countries in the Oceania region did not receive any exports from Qatari private sector.05 percent of total exports, while the Oceania region group did not receive any exports from the Qatari private sector.05 percent of total exports, while the Oceania region group did not receive any exports from the Qatari private sector.
