Qatar has adopted over the past few years a number of balanced development policies aimed at joining the ranks of the world’s most developed countries by 2030 in line with the state’s National Vision 2030 under the wise direction of HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

This came in a speech by the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority Chairman, HE Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, at the15th Arab-German Business Forum in Berlin, Germany, yesterday. The forum is being held from June 13-15.

HE al-Attiyah underlined the importance of pushing forward and promoting the Arab-German ties as the region witnesses political and economic changes enabling it to create a new future more secure and stable and offer opportunities for trade and investment to investors from around the world.

Achieving the comprehensive and sustainable development is one of the key principles stated in Qatar National Vision 2030, HE al-Attiyah explained.

The Qatari economy is one of the world’s fastest growing economies with a compound annual growth rate of 15.7% despite the current financial turmoil and recessionary trend for the world economy, he said.

Qatar’s real GDP growth was 18.8% in 2011 and the IMF is forecasting further growth of 7.0% in 2012 , he added.

These achievements were realised thanks to the development programmes and policies being implemented by the Qatari leadership thus Qatar has succeeded to build bridges of communication between the Arab world and its German and European partners in general, he added.

Qatar has as well succeeded to create a favourable investment atmosphere, put into practice balanced strategies allowing the responsible use of resources while modernising the overall infrastructure, the legislative framework and consolidating the culture of openness.

HE al-Attiyah underlined that Qatar had ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa region in credit rating which has facilitated acquiring loans and securing capital, adding that it has maintained its 14th standing as part of the first 20 economies in the Global Competitiveness Report 2011 and stood 22nd internationally in the International Transparency Report for the same year.

Qatar’s placement ahead of the US and France in both reports asserts the extent of the strength and dynamism of its economy and its competitiveness, he explained.

In assertion of this economic advancement which Qatar has achieved internationally and rooting the culture of openness to the external world, Qatar headed towards driving major investment into developed countries to foster relations with them and benefit from their expertise and technical capabilities, which concurrently secures investments for future generations, indicated HE al-Attiyah. In turn, Qatar has increasingly attracted entrepreneurs as well as non-governmental institutions, organisations and international firms in all fields, he remarked.

These conscious policies had to emanate from a well-established foundation crystallised in building a pioneering and developed society boasting components and mechanisms of advancement and refinement, hence building the Qatari persona with knowledge-based cognition, another strategic choice from among development options, he indicated.

HE the Chairman of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority concluded his speech by pointing out Qatar and Germany’s bilateral relations have witnessed a notable development during the past few years.