USD 353 in 1996 and USD 421 million in 1997. Services of U.S. origin in Qatar were estimated at USD 200 million in 1990-91, USD 100 million in 1992 and USD 1 billion per year from 1994 through 1997, concentrated in the oil and natural gas operations. The U.S. has occupied in recent years the position of leading supplier of goods and services to Qatar, which was a Japanese monopoly for a period of about 50 years. U.S. share of the market has consequently increased to slightly over 15 percent of total imports of goods and about 85 percent of services. The U.S. Embassy in Doha attaches the highest priority to maintaining and expanding U.S. share of the import market.
All values are in millions of U.S. dollars and represent latest available data.
Taken together with U.S. investments in the natural gas industry, total U.S. involvement in this sector is estimated at USD 5.5 billion in 1997 and is likely to increase by an addition USD 5 billion throughout the next few years till 2010. The latter signed a heads of agreement with QGPC in May 1997 to build a new petrochemical complex in Umm Said industrial area, with an estimated project value of USD 1 billion. Beverage bases, condiments, snack foods, frozen beef, chicken parts, processed fruits and vegetables, fruit juices and breakfast cereals.