Mubasher: The GCC was Qatar’s third largest importer in 2017, while the UAE topped the Gulf peers in spite of the Arab boycott.
Bilateral trade between the world’s biggest LNG exporter and the GCC reached QAR 27.3 billion ($7.49 billion) last year, while Qatari trade surplus with the GCC amounted to QAR 1.8 billion ($494 billion), according to the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics’ (MDPS) report.
The GCC acquired 5.9% of Qatar’s total exports which registered QAR 245.69 billion ($67.49 billion) in 2017, and 7% of the gas-rich nation’s overall imports, which recorded QAR 108.9 billion ($29.91 billion) during the same period.
In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt had cut diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar, accusing the gas-rich nation of supporting terrorism. Doha forcefully denies the charges.
Qatari trade balance surplus with the GCC grew 48.9% to QAR 136.8 billion ($37.6 billion) last year, the data added.
The UAE led GCC importers of Qatari exports in 2017, with QAR 9.3 billion, followed by Kuwait and Oman, with QAR 2.2 billion and QAR 1.9 billion, respectively.
The UAE was also the biggest Gulf exporter to Qatar with QAR 5.9 billion, followed by Omani and Kuwaiti with QAR 2.7 billion and QAR 2.2 billion, respectively.
On the other hand, Qatari trade deficit with Saudi reached QAR 131 million, as Qatar’s imports from the kingdom amounted to QAR 2.23 billion, while the Qatari exports to its GCC neighbour reached QAR 920 million.
