NEW YORK: Qatar’s prime minister announced on Sunday the creation of a new division of the Qatar Investment Authority dedicated to developing domestic investments, marking a new direction for a sovereign wealth fund long focused on building wealth overseas.
“We aim to expand the role of the private sector in driving Qatar’s economic growth,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said as he announced the new division, Doha Investment, at a special edition of the Qatar Economic Forum in New York.
“It will support our strongest companies, help emerging businesses grow, deepen capital markets and attract international capital and expertise to contribute to this effort,” he added.
The new division will operate as the dedicated manager of QIA’s local portfolio, initially overseeing 45 state-owned enterprises that represent roughly one-third of the wealth fund's total assets, according to Sheikh Faisal bin Thani Al-Thani, Qatar’s minister of commerce and industry. He will serve as managing director and vice-chairman of Doha Investment.
Sheikh Faisal described the division not as a new creation but a consolidation, adding that the step has been under consideration for more than a decade.
The QIA, estimated by the research firm Global SWF to have assets under management of $580 billion, was established in 2005 with an original charter centered on deploying capital abroad.
It has built up a domestic footprint in recent years, scaling up companies that have become national leaders, including Qatar Airways, lender QNB and telecoms company Ooredoo, developer Qatari Diar and hotels owner Katara Hospitality.
The new division’s mandate also spans strengthening and building new national champions, supporting privatization, widening private sector participation and diversifying Qatar’s economy, Sheikh Faisal said.
Qatar’s non-hydrocarbon economy grew 4.8 percent in 2025, outpacing 2.9 percent overall real GDP growth, while non-hydrocarbon activities accounted for 65.5 percent of real GDP in the third quarter of this year, according to the Qatar Central Bank and National Planning Council.
