Qatar foreign investment hits $1.79bn in '06

Foreign investment in Qatar lept to $1.79 billion in 2006 from $252 million in 2000, the Qatar Statistics Authority said in a report released on Monday.

As a result of the increase, the ratio of foreign direct investment to GDP rose from 1.4 percent in 2000 to 3.2 percent in 2006, according to the second National Report on the Millenium Development Goals in the State of Qatar.

Foreign investment was attracted by the flexibility in legislative frameworks in financial services, real estate and communications sectors, as well as economic growth, which rose over 20 percent in the past two years, the report said.

Cash remittances for immigrant workers taking part in development projects in Qatar rose to $7.9 billion in 2005 from $5.5 billion in 2001, forming 7.2 percent of the country's GDP, it said. (Reuters)