By SACHIN KUMAR
Doha: Japan emerged as the biggest export destination (QR145bn) from Qatar in 2013, while South Korea and India were the second and the third major destination for exports, according to the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics data. Exports to South Korea stood at QR89.4bn while exports to India were QR52.1bn last year.
Asia was the principal destination of Qatar exports which accounted for about 79.4 percent of the total. Exports to Asia were dominated by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), crude oil, condensates, propane and other such chemicals.
In the second place was European Union which had a share of 9.9 percent in total exports. Within the European Union, United Kingdom was the major partner reporting exports of QR14bn while exports to France stood at QR6.6bn. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) occupied the third place accounting for 6.5 percent. Among GCC countries, United Arab Emirates was major export destination registering exports of QR21.2bn. Exports to UAE were followed by Kuwait (QR4.2bn) and Saudi Arabia (QR4.1bn).
The value of Qatar’s total exports in 2013, (including exports of domestic goods and re-exports) amounted to QR498.2bn which grew by 2.9 percent compared to total export of QR484bn in 2012. The rise exports were mainly due to higher exports of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (QR10.8bn) and chemical and related products (QR4bn).
Last year, Qatar recorded a merchandise trade surplus (the difference between exports and imports) of QR399.7bn, up from 392.1bn in 2012. The value of total imports in 2013 was QR98.4bn which was up 7.2 percent from 91.8bn in 2012. The Peninsula
