(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Qatari Minister of Energy and Industry Muhammad Saleh Al-Sada said on Monday his country planned to
increase its petrochemical output to 23 million tons a year by 2020.
Qatar's economic growth will continue to rely mainly on the hydrocarbon resources in the foreseeable future; this is why the state is aggressively expanding the refining and processing industry, he said.
Al-Sada made the remarks in an inaugural speech to the MEED Qatar Projects 2013 Conference, read on his behalf by Hamad Rashed Al-Mohannadi, deputy board chairman of Qatar Petroleum (QP) and director general of RasGas Co.
The outlook of the world economy is still uncertain and the developed economies particularly in Europe are battling against challenging economic and financial conditions, he noted.
The State of Qatar was not immune to such challenges but was able to emerge from the impacts of the global financial meltdown thanks to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector, Al-Sada went on.
In 2011 the oil and LNG exports accounted for 50 percent of Qatar's GDP and 70 percent of the state budget revenues, he pointed out.
He added that the state adopted a USD-multi-billion investment program for financing key infrastructure projects foremost among which are the Hamad International Airport - to open in April, 2013, the New Harbor - to open in 2016, and the development of sports facilities in the run-up to the World Cup 2022.
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