About National Development Strategy

When His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Father Emir, put forth Qatar’s National Vision (QNV)2030, he envisioned a clear path to achieving this vision through the development of a step-by-step strategy that would turn each goal in the QNV 2030 into a concrete reality for Qatar.

This plan is the first National Development Strategy 2011-2016, a strategy that will pave the way for Qatar’s economic, social, cultural, and environmental development, leading to an even more prosperous Qatar and setting the pace for future national strategies to come.

Sustaining Economic Prosperity

QNV 2030 articulates three interrelated goals for the economy. It looks to sustain a high standard of living, to expand innovation and entrepreneurial capabilities and to align economic outcomes with economic and financial stability.

Sustainability is defined as meeting the needs of the current generation without compromising those of future generations. There are many paths to sustainability; the goal of prosperity clarifies the development path the country wants to pursue and the ones it wants to avoid.

To embed sustainability in Qatar’s economy, progress is needed in three parallel, mutually reinforcing directions. First, the country will enlarge the value of the productive base, which is necessary to sustain prosperity in an economy with a growing population and to expand the potential for future generations. Second, the government will guard against economic instability and promote increased efficiency. Third, the government will work in partnership with the private sector to diversify the economy and foster a culture of discovery and innovation.

For more information about the programmes, please refer to Qatar National Development Strategy 2011 ~ 2016 Summary of Programmes

An ​Integrated Approach to Sound Social Development

An integrated social development policy must always take into account the well-being of Qatar and its citizens. By building a safe, secure and stable society through strong and effective government and family institutions, Qatar will achieve the QNV 2030 outcomes of effective social care and protection, sound social structure and international cooperation.

The National Development Strategy 2011–2016 will lay the foundation for these goals with a social development strategy that. seeks to enhance individual well-being without compromising Qatar’s cultural identity. This strategy will integrate the following elements:

  • Establishing strong cohesive families that care for their members and maintain moral and religious values and humanitarian ideals.
  • Establishing an effective social protection system for all Qataris that ensures their civil rights, values their contribution in society and ensures an adequate income to maintain a healthy and dignified life.
  • Establishing a secure and stable society operating on the principles of justice, equality and the rule of law.
  • Increasing active lifestyle practices among the population to improve health outcomes and to use sports participation to forge friendships and improve relations between countries worldwide.
  • Establishing Qatar as a hub of Arab culture through a distinctive national identity, strong community cohesion and a vibrant and creative cultural sector.

For more information about the programmes, please refer to Qatar National Development Strategy 2011 ~ 2016 Summary of Programmes

Promoting Human Development

The human development pillar of QNV 2030 calls for the “development of all Qatar’s people to enable them to sustain a prosperous society” and “to meet the needs of this generation without compromising the needs of future generations”.

Qatar will continue to invest in its people so that all can participate fully in the country’s social, economic and political life and function effectively within a competitive knowledge-based international order.

It is putting in place advanced health and education systems that meet the highest global standards. It is also supporting the productive participation of Qatari men and women in the labour force, while attracting qualified expatriate workers in all fields, with a growing emphasis on the higher skilled.

For more information about the programmes, please refer to Qatar National Development Strategy 2011 ~ 2016 Summary of Programmes

Managing Environmental Development

Qatar’s National Development Strategy 2011–2016 for the first time explicitly aligns the growth of national prosperity to the realities of environmental constraints. By establishing a programme of strengthened environmental management across economic and natural resource sectors, the Strategy sets out a framework for continuing economic growth that avoids penalizing future generations.

Advancing specific actions to conserve water, improve air quality, manage waste and protect biodiversity, the Strategy adheres to the foundational concept of intergenerational justice.

Interventions to be initiated between 2011 and 2016 will put Qatar on a path of environmentally sustainable development. Many of the changes call for new patterns in consumption and production, complemented by lasting improvements in environmental governance and performance.

The environmental management strategy envisions a broad shift in laws, regulation, management systems, technologies and attitudes.

For more information about the programmes, please refer to Qatar National Development Strategy 2011 ~ 2016 Summary of Programmes

Developing Modern Public Sector Institutions

Qatar needs strong public sector institutions to reach the goals of QNV 2030 for social progress, human development, a sound and diversified economy and a sustainable environment.

Achieving these goals will require institutional and organizational capacity building, efficient and transparent delivery of public services, fruitful public-private cooperation and partnerships, a vibrant climate for business and a larger space for civil society.

Two linked concepts underlie the NDS programme for institutional development and modernization. One is the drivers of modernization, factors that influence performance and the need to modernize, and that serve as measures of institutional success: the public sector’s efficiency, effectiveness, value creation, transparency, accountability, relevance and customer engagement.

The other is the levers that institutions must apply to modernize: policy and planning, budget and financial management, human resources development, organizational alignment, procurement, institutional processes, information technology and performance management.

Within these focus areas there are 16 projects that are designed to be flexible with a high degree of stakeholder participation and ownership.

For more information about the programmes, please refer to Qatar National Development Strategy 2011 ~ 2016 Summary of Programmes