Qatar’s 61-year-old emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani has handed over power to his 33-year-old son Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani deposed his own father in a bloodless coup in 1995, and began Qatar’s transformation from a backwater and low-profile state into one of the richest nations in the world.
Qatar, a US ally in the region, is endowed with 25 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and the world’s third-largest proven natural gas reserves (behind Russia and Iran), estimated at approximately 890 trillion cubic feet. The emirate is the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas. Oil and gas account for 58 per cent of gross domestic product.
There are currently more than 220 billion dollars of infrastructure investment projects, either under way or planned to be completed before the Fifa 2022 World Cup. Nine new air-conditioned football stadiums, hotels, luxury villas, an international airport, metro and the national rail network capable of withstanding 400,000 visitors will be built over the next seven years. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who was educated in the UK at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, played a role in Qatar’s successful bid to host the Fifa 2022 World Cup.
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, Qatar’s multi-billionaire prime minister and a close ally of the emir who is widely known as HBJ, is also to be replaced, though he may retain his oversight responsibilities at the country’s sovereign wealth fund, which has more than 100 billion dollars in assets.
photo: Valsts kanceleja / flickr.com by CC 2.0
