Qatar is seeking to improve the GDP contribution of manufacturing, which was the third largest in the non-oil and gas sector in 2006.

Manufacturing contributed QR14.09 billion ($3.87 billion), representing 7.3 per cent of the total GDP. It followed finance, insurance and real estate (QR15.7 billion) and buildings and construction (QR10.2 billion).
The contribution of manufacturing was QR13 billion in 2005.
As in other Gulf states, Qatar’ policy is to diversify its income sources and maximise utilisation of its natural resources.
The non-oil and gas sector contributed QR73.2 billion in 2006, up 18 per cent over 2006. Qatar’s total GDP was said to be QR191.9 billion, an increase of 24.2 per cent over the previous year.
The Qatar National Bank suggests that the economy will grow by 17.8 per cent in 2007 and by 16.5 per cent in 2008.
According to the Planning Council, the share of the oil and gas sector was 62 per cent in 2006. Qatar National Bank believes it will stay at 60 per cent in 2007 and 58 per cent in 2008 mainly due to the upward pressure on oil prices and the increased production of oil, natural as and related industries.
It says the non-oil and gas sector will increasingly make significant contributions to the overall GDP, as several important initiatives have been launched including the Qatar Financial Centre, Energy City and Qatar Science and Technology Park along with initiatives to expand businesses in the tourism, construction and real estate and other fields.
The manufacturing sector continues to be vibrant with several greenfield projects and expansions announced in recent months.
South Korea’s Honam Petrochemical Corp will invest $390 million in a $2.6 billion project to build a petrochemical plant in Qatar. Qatar Intermediate Industries Holdings Co Ltd, a unit of state-owned Qatar Petroleum, is investing $910 million in the complex which could materialise by the second half of 2011.
Qatar Fertiliser Company is expanding its production by building two ammonia plants with a combined capacity of 4,600 tonnes per day (tpd) and a urea plant able to produce 3,850 tpd.
Qatar and Japan’s Itochu Corp have signed a deal to work on international joint ventures in oil, gas and petrochemicals.
Qatar Petrochemicals Company (Qapco), which recently expanded ethylene capacity to 720,000 tonnes, is implementing another project to raise low density polyethylene (LDPE) production. And with Qatofin, it is creating facilities for linear LDPE and ethylene.
Qatar’s Abdullah Abdul Ghani & Sons group has teamed up with Dubai Investments’ Glass LLC to launch a $20 million Qatar-based glass company.  Glass LLC will secure a 49 per cent stake in the joint venture with the Qatari company holding the remainder stake.
One of the biggest projects of its kind, Qatar Aluminium, is in the implementation stage. The plant, which will have a first-phase capacity of 585,000 tonnes, will cost $5.6 billion and be ready for production in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Qatar Steel, which recently completed expansions at its Doha plant and has set up a venture in Dubai, will be in a better position to increase production and open new plants and subsidiaries in its home base and abroad thanks to its taking of a 25 per cent stake in an iron pellets producer in Bahrain and a 15 per cent stake in an iron ore project in Mauritania.
One of the signs of the growing pace of industrial activity is the setting up of  logistic facilities. Gulf Warehousing Company (GWC) will soon open its new warehouse at Ras Laffan Industrial City which will cater to the oil and gas sector.
GWC is also building a logistics village and a warehouse in different areas to complete its existing large warehouse in Doha.
Qatar Airways Cargo has expanded its international operations with the introduction of a third aircraft into its freighter fleet and the launch of seven new cargo-only destinations.