Qatar: Strategy Launched on Increasing Qatarization, Attracting More Highly-Skilled Foreign Nationals

Qatar’s Ministry of Labour (MOL) has launched a six-year strategy to boost Qatarization in the private sector while also increasing the proportion of highly skilled foreign nationals in the workforce. This includes:

• Goals to increase the number of Qatari nationals working in the private sector to 20% by 2030 (up from the current 17%). As part of this, the strategy seeks to upskill Qatari nationals to prepare them for private sector roles.
• Goals to increase the proportion of foreign workers in Qatar who are highly skilled from the current 20% to 24% by 2030. As part of this, Qatari authorities will prioritize visa issuance for highly skilled foreign nationals, introduce new visa and permit pathways (which may be similar to recently announced programs such as Mustaqel – a long-term residence permit program for talented individuals and entrepreneurs), and further streamline foreign national employment processes in Qatar.

Qatari authorities are expected to announce further details regarding the strategy in the near future. We will continue to monitor developments.