Qatar’s manufacturing sector adds $7.25bn to GDP in H1 

The gains come amid the rollout of Qatar’s National Manufacturing Strategy 2024–2030. Getty
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Updated 29 October 2025
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Qatar’s manufacturing sector adds $7.25bn to GDP in H1 

JEDDAH: Qatar’s manufacturing sector contributed 26.84 billion Qatari riyals ($7.25 billion) to the nation’s gross domestic product in the first half of 2025, reflecting strong industrial growth, trade expansion, and digital business reforms. 

The sector added 13.44 billion riyals in the second quarter alone, the Qatar News Agency reported, citing data published by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. 

The announcement followed the ministry’s third quarterly performance review for 2025, chaired by Minister of Commerce and Industry Sheikh Faisal bin Thani bin Faisal Al-Thani, and attended by Undersecretary Mohammed bin Hassan Al-Malki, along with assistant undersecretaries and department directors. 

The gains come amid the rollout of Qatar’s National Manufacturing Strategy 2024–2030, which aims to generate 70.5 billion riyals in value added, boost non-hydrocarbon exports to 49 billion riyals, and attract 2.75 billion riyals in annual industrial investments by 2030.

The strategy features 15 initiatives and 60 projects designed to advance smart manufacturing, enhance research, and align education with industry requirements.

The statement noted that the meeting reviewed the third quarter achievements, sector performance, and challenges, while exploring solutions to improve implementation, efficiency, and service quality. 

“Among the notable achievements highlighted was the entry into force of the Qatar–Turkiye economic and trade partnership agreement on August 1, 2025, which has boosted trade exchange and eased investment restrictions,” QNA reported. 

The agency added that the ministry also launched a digital platform to showcase public-private partnership projects and introduced 20 new e-services covering licensing, market monitoring, competition protection, consumer rights, and anti-commercial fraud. 

In the third quarter, the ministry rolled out the “My Companies” mobile service, a voluntary mergers and acquisitions review program, and received the Golden Shield award, ranking first in the 11th Cybersecurity Drill. 

Other milestones included unifying land, sea, and air freight in a single commercial registry, issuing temporary licenses for Sealine service providers, updating industrial and trade guides, convening the Public–Private Dialogue Forum, enhancing cooperation with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and granting certain fee exemptions. 

Trade indicators showed strong momentum, with new commercial registrations rising 81.5 percent year on year, active registrations increasing 18.1 percent, and company setup time reduced to two days, QNA stated. 

Active commercial licenses grew 6.8 percent, while 4,631 new non-Qatari companies were established. The single-window platform added five e-services, processed 72,500 transactions — 89 percent electronically — and achieved 94 percent customer satisfaction. 

“Regarding business environment enhancement, the Ministry successfully identified and resolved 35 percent of the challenges facing the private sector. Twelve PPP projects were studied in 2025, three more than in Q2, with four new projects launched and one awarded in Q3,” QNA reported. 

In the consumer affairs sector, the number of specialized licenses issued increased 30.87 percent compared with the third quarter of 2024, while processing time was reduced to one day. 

The time required to process price-adjustment requests for goods and services also fell compared with the first two quarters of 2025. Beneficiaries of ration services rose 2.61 percent year on year, while the number of fodder distributors surged 96.9 percent, the report added. 


Saudi Electricity Co. launches its new corporate identity, announces transformation to Saudi Energy

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Saudi Electricity Co. launches its new corporate identity, announces transformation to Saudi Energy

RIYADH: Saudi Electricity Co. has announced the launch of its new identity and its official transformation to Saudi Energy.

This step highlights its role within the national energy ecosystem and its alignment with the structural transformations witnessed in the Kingdom’s energy sector, enhancing its contributions to supporting the security of energy supplies and grid reliability, in achievement of the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi Energy CEO Khaled bin Salem Al-Ghamdi said: “This transformation is a continuation of the financial, regulatory, and structural reforms that the electricity sector has been witnessing since 2020, aiming to achieve the desired goals for the sector and elevate the quality of services provided to consumers.”

Al-Ghamdi added: “It also represents an extension of a deep-rooted legacy built by the Saudi Electricity Co. over decades, a natural evolution of its vital role, and embodies a new phase in the company’s national journey.”

He affirmed that launching the new identity expresses an evolution in role and responsibility, not a change in the nature of the activity, and represents a strategic step toward establishing a modern corporate image that reflects trust, sustainability, and readiness for the future, and confirms Saudi Energy’s commitment to its national role in supporting the energy sector and contributing to achieving growth and prosperity across the Kingdom.

Al-Ghamdi also said: “Today, we build upon a rich legacy filled with achievements and developments in the electricity sector, and we embark with an identity that reflects a more integrated coming phase.”

He added: “In this phase, we are ready to continue contributing, efficiently and effectively, to supporting the national energy ecosystem and enhancing service reliability, in complete alignment with the strategic directions of the Ministry of Energy and the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.”

The company affirmed that launching the new identity and changing its name reflects the role the company plays within the national energy ecosystem. This role includes developing and implementing energy storage projects and systems, alongside its pivotal role in enabling the transformation in the energy sector. 

This involves enhancing the sector’s reliability and efficiency by reaching the optimal energy mix used in electricity generation, displacing liquid fuels to enhance and ensure supply security, expanding, upgrading, and automating transmission and distribution networks, increasing localization rates, stimulating investments, and achieving the Kingdom’s environmental goals.

This step also comes as an extension of a long and successful national journey in supplying the Kingdom with electricity, based on the company’s position as a key element in the electrical infrastructure, and affirming the pivotal role it undertakes in enhancing grid reliability, raising its efficiency, and modernizing and automating it. 

To this, it adds its role in the integration of energy sources, supporting the stability of the ecosystem and confirming its readiness for the requirements of the next phase. 

Furthermore, this development represents an extension of the approved regulatory framework governing its activities in the areas of electricity generation, transmission, distribution, and storage, and enabling the electrical system, reflecting the continuity of its operational model and the stability of the governance rules under which it operates.

Saudi Energy clarified that the new identity affirms that the customer is the core of the company’s business. This orientation, expressed in its logo and corporate promise, “Around you, For you,” represents one of the main pillars of its operational strategy. 

It reflects its commitment to elevating the beneficiary experience, enhancing the quality of interaction with them and the service provided to them, and its efforts in developing digital channels and effectively responding to the needs of individuals, business, and industrial sectors, thereby contributing to improving the quality of life and supporting the competitiveness of the national economy.

The company stated that this transformation confirms its adoption of the best global practices in managing and operating energy grids and their infrastructure. This supports operational efficiency, enhances its role as a key enabler of the electrical infrastructure, and contributes to supporting the Kingdom’s position as a global energy hub.