Vice President of the World Bank for the Mena Region, Dr. Ousmane Dione
Doha, Qatar: Vice President of the World Bank for the Mena Region, Dr. Ousmane Dione, praised the economic performance of the State of Qatar amidst a difficult regional situation, witnessing many crises related to conflicts or climate.
The World Bank official said in an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the State of Qatar is advancing in achieving its important development goals, especially when it comes to infrastructure and ensuring sustainable economic growth.
He explained that economic growth in Qatar remains positive thanks to the stability of oil prices driven by increased demand, adding that that is something very important to achieve in the North Africa and Middle East region, which is generally suffering from a number of difficult challenges.
Regarding the country’s economic diversification path, the World Bank’s Vice President for MENA region considered that this path provides a range of opportunities for the economy, in addition to challenges to move forward towards its development aspirations.
He pointed out that Qatar has started to diversify key sectors as part of its National Development Strategy 2030, making notable advancements in infrastructure, adding that given the country’s potential, there is an opportunity for Qatar to focus more on areas like tourism, particularly family and medical tourism, where it can make significant progress, leveraging its strong infrastructure and the global reach of Qatar Airways.
Dr. Dione stressed the potential that the State of Qatar has to create an environment for tourism attraction and for this sector to flourish better, which the country “demonstrated with the organization of the World Cup.”
He pointed out that the challenge now is how to put diversification within a sustainable path, explaining, “the more Qatar can diversify the economy, the better chances it has to perform better at the present time.”
He said that the path taken by the Qatari economy towards diversification through investment in the fields of digitization and artificial intelligence puts Qatar in a better position in the future, as a center for knowledge, technology, and innovation.
Commenting on the present reality of youth in the Mena region and the opportunities available to them, Osman Dion said that the MENA region currently has huge potential in several areas due to the reason that by 2050, 300 million young people in the region will enter the labor market, stating, “that is an extremely important number with respect to if they have a good education and skills.”
