DUSHANBE, June 28, 2013, Asia-Plus – On Wednesday June 26, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon sent a telegram of congratulations to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, following his father’s decision to hand over power as Emir of Qatar to him on Tuesday.
In his message, President Rahmon wished all the best to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in continuing work on development of Qatar.
He also expressed confidence that mutually beneficial cooperation between Tajikistan and Qatar will expand in the future as well.
We will recall that Qatar”s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on June 25 handed over power to his son, Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim. According to international media sources, the 61-year-old emir said in a seven-minute speech aired on state television that it was time for a new generation to take over following his 18 years at the helm of the small, rich state.
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is an absolute monarchy under the leadership of the Al Thani family, whose origins can be traced back to the Banu Tamim tribe.
Before the discovery of oil, the economy of the Qatari region focused on fishing and pearl hunting. After the introduction of the Japanese cultured pearl onto the world market in the 1920s and 1930s, Qatar”s pearling industry crashed. Oil was discovered in Qatar in 1940, in Dukhan Field. The discovery transformed the state”s economy. Now, the country has a high standard of living. With no income tax, Qatar (along with Bahrain) is one of the countries with the lowest tax rates in the world. Qatar reportedly has the highest GDP per capita in the world as of 2012. It relies heavily on foreign labor to grow its economy, to the extent that migrant workers comprise 94% of the workforce. The economic growth of Qatar has been almost exclusively based on its petroleum and natural gas industries, which began in 1940. Qatar is the leading exporter of liquefied natural gas. In 2012, it was estimated that Qatar would invest over $120 billion in the energy sector in the next ten years. The country is a member state of OPEC, having joined the organization in 1961.
