Gulf economies face major challenges in post-COVID 19 world
Signals indicate the embargo imposed on Qatar could come to an end, but can the Gulf Cooperation Council play a coordinating role vital to diversify Gulf economies post-pandemic?
As the spotlight returns to the yearslong rift among Gulf countries and Qatar, and new reports claim an end may be in sight, there are massive challenges ahead for Gulf economies — even if the dispute is brought to a successful end.
Four Arab countries imposed an embargo on Qatar in mid-2017, in the hope that it would force the gas-rich emirate to kneel down and comply to a list of 13 demands that included severing ties with Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as shutting down Al Jazeera.
The crisis instead galvanized the Qatari economy — 47,000 companies have been established since 2017 — and boosted national pride over locally made products. Doha repeatedly denied the charges, saying the embargo aimed to undermine its sovereignty and responded defiantly by opening new trade line routes, including with Turkey and neighboring Iran.
“Qatar after June 5, 2017, is not like Qatar before,” the press officer of a Qatari dairy giant that operates one of the biggest cattle farms in the Gulf told Reuters. Doha's pugnacious efforts to strengthen its farming industry and achieve food security is one of the main policy responses to the blockade, although it risks accelerating groundwater depletion.
