100% Foreign Ownership in Qatar: What Law No. 1 of 2019 Says

The rule and its exceptions

Before Law No. 1 of 2019, foreign investment was governed by Law No. 13 of 2000, which Article 26 repealed. The current law lets a non-Qatari investor invest in all economic sectors up to 100% of the capital, as set by the executive regulations issued by Minister of Commerce and Industry Decision No. 44 of 2020.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry states that most activities on the Single Window are open to foreign investors with ownership above 49% and up to 100%, that the remaining activities need at least 51% Qatari ownership, and that a few are 100% Qatari.

• Prohibited: banks and insurance companies, except those exempted by a Council of Ministers decision.
• Prohibited: commercial agencies.
• Prohibited: any other fields named by a Council of Ministers decision.
• The law does not apply to companies exploiting natural resources under a concession, or to the oil, gas and petrochemicals sector (Article 25).

Conditions for approval above 49%

The application goes to the competent department at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on its form. The executive regulations set conditions for the investor and for the project.

• For a legal person: it must be a company formed under the law of the country of its head office, and the requested activity must match its objects.
• Documents must be notarised and attested by the competent authority in the head office country and by the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• The project activity must be on the list of activities approved by the Minister.
• A description of the activity, a business plan and a financial plan for the project.
• A written undertaking to bear the project's obligations and to start it within the period set by the department.
• On the Single Window: a non-Qatari investment licence application and a CV for each partner.

Decision deadline and grievance

Under Article 3, the competent department decides on the application within fifteen days of receiving the required documents, and silence after that period counts as an implied refusal. A refused applicant may file a grievance with the Minister within fifteen days of learning of the refusal. The Minister decides within thirty days and that decision is final.

Incentives and guarantees for foreign investors

Part Three of the law sets out incentives and guarantees for non-Qatari investment projects.

• Land may be allocated to the project by lease or usufruct (Article 8).
• Projects may be exempted from income tax under the rules of the Income Tax Law (Article 10).
• Customs exemption on machinery and equipment needed for set-up, and on raw and semi-finished materials for industrial projects when not available locally (Article 11).
• No expropriation except for the public interest and with fair compensation (Article 13).
• Free transfers to and from abroad without delay, in any convertible currency (Article 14).
• The investment may be transferred to another investor (Article 15), and disputes other than labour disputes may be referred to arbitration (Article 16).

Penalty for breaching the law

The competent department notifies the investor of a breach to correct it within no more than three months, failing which the licence is cancelled and the entry struck off the commercial register (Article 19). Anyone who carries on an economic activity in breach of the law faces a fine of up to QAR 500,000 (Article 20).