Qatar blockade fizzles out as the emirate counters the plan

If you’ve been offered a job in Qatar but are concerned over the ongoing blockade, it seems there’s far less to worry about than was expected.

A full eight months since Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE attempted to isolate Qatar economically and politically, there seem to be few signs indicating the blockade is working. Objectives of the move included forcing the emirate to break its links with Iran, shutting down Al Jazeera TV and ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood and other similar groups. The only tangible effects the move seems to have had were to rally Qataris around their ruler as well as increasing the country’s ties with Iran and Turkey.

However, the crisis may well have had an unexpected and unwanted effect on the Saudi-dominated Gulf Cooperation Council, to which Qatar and the blockaders belong. In addition, the blockade has placed the USA in a tricky position as it’s formally an ally of the blockading Gulf States as well as with Qatar. President Trump, initially a supporter of the blockade, is due to hold a meeting in Washington with Qatari, Saudi and Emirati leaders in the hope the impasse can be ended. Economists are now suggesting the blockaders are fully aware their tactics have failed, but are also stressing the importance of a face-saving solution.

Qatar’s immediate reaction to the blockade was to inject around $38.5 billion of its natural gas revenues into its economy, as well as swiftly setting up new supply chains in order to source goods from Iran and Turkey which had previously been imported from the Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Although the initial economic effects of the blockade had been severe, good planning soon took the edge off the threat. Expats in the emirate expressed serious concerns about the future of their jobs in the early days of the blockade and investors began moving their money to other jurisdictions, but the swift stabilisation of Qatar’s economy stemmed the flow. Layoffs of workers from the Philippines and other South Asian countries were reported, along with tales of struggling businesses whose trade was UAE and Saudi-based.

Nowadays, the currency is stable and pegged to the US$, the stock market is performing well and infrastructure is being maintained. As a result, expat professionals considering taking relocation to Qatar have little to be concerned about. It begins to seem that the only important and scarce commodity in the Gulf State region which will be permanently damaged is that of trust.