Qatar is said to have invested around two billion euros in European football clubs over the past ten years. Measured against the total investments of the emirate: a manageable sum. The state “Qatar Investment Authority” is said to have invested more than 350 billion euros in dozens of countries. A good quarter of them in Great Britain, the USA and France.
Qatar holds shares in capital markets such as the London Stock Exchange and in banks such as Barclays and Credit Suisse, says Middle East expert Kristian Ulrichsen from the Baker Institute in Houston: “In Germany and Scandinavia, journalists and activists assess the World Cup in Qatar differently than their governments. Qatar is considered an important partner and investor for the economy. There are economic and security-political relationships that were established long before the 2010 World Cup was awarded and will also survive in 2022.”
Norway is also closely linked to Qatar
In Norway, football fans and players discussed a boycott of the World Cup in Qatar particularly intensively. What few of you probably know: There is a free trade agreement between Norway and Qatar. Norwegian companies have invested almost nine billion euros in Qatar, including in agriculture and marine technology.
These companies hardly play a role in the human rights debate in Qatar. And they should be relieved about that, says Dietmar Schäfers, Vice President of the Building and Woodworkers’ International, a trade union association: “It’s often difficult for the corporations. On the one hand they want to get orders worth millions. And on the other hand, they also have a responsibility for the working conditions and, of course, for ensuring that labor rights and human rights are respected. On the one hand, you want public contracts. And on the other hand, you don’t want to criticize so loudly, including from the companies, about everything that’s going so wrong, especially when it comes to public contracts.”
Qatar is investing massively in Germany
In Germany, the criticism focuses on FC Bayern. The record champion receives around 20 million euros annually from the state airline Qatar Airways. But the Qatar sovereign wealth fund is also one of the largest foreign investors in Germany, with a volume of around 25 billion euros. Qatar holds shares in Volkswagen, the sponsor of VfL Wolfsburg. At Deutsche Bank, who gave the Frankfurt football stadium its name. Or to Hapag-Lloyd, the main sponsor of the Hamburg Bundesliga handball team.
In addition, German corporations are involved in major projects in Qatar: Deutsche Bahn and Siemens in the development of local transport structures, SAP in digitization. But these are just the better-known examples, says Kathrin Lemke, who has headed the German Chamber of Commerce office in Doha since 2016:
“Traditionally, it is definitely the construction industry. But that has diversified a bit in recent years. You will still find traditional construction companies here and, above all, suppliers for the construction industry. German machines are in great demand and engineering services. But over the past few years, the service sector has also expanded. We are finding more small and medium-sized companies that also offer IT services, services, for example.”
Chancellor Merkel received the Emir in Berlin
German exports to Qatar are now around one and a half billion euros a year. Again and again, German entrepreneurs and politicians on the ground campaign for an expansion of relations. For example, Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil during the 2015 World Handball Championship in Qatar. Kathrin Lemke says: “Since the political crisis, since the isolation of Qatar by neighboring countries in June 2017, the Qatari state has had a very great interest in both establishing new relationships and deepening the existing economic and political relationships with countries. And there was a big initiative by the Qatari government to organize forums with the existing partners.”
In September 2018, in the midst of the blockade of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, Chancellor Merkel received the Qatari Emir al-Thani to an economic summit. Among other things, Merkel said: “That’s why I’m naturally pleased, Your Highness, about the interest that Qatar is showing in Germany and about the fact that Qatar wants to expand its investments in Germany beyond the current level.” Both governments also maintain a joint economic commission. In addition, the Federal President was supposed to travel to Doha a few weeks ago, but his visit had to be canceled due to the pandemic.
Exchange in joint committees
Did Frank-Walter Steinmeier also address the slow implementation of the labor reforms? And anyway: How can Western companies stand up for human rights without sacrificing income? “It is very important that clubs and associations deal extensively with labor law issues in Qatar before they get involved in Qatar,” says Max Tuñón, head of the office of the International Labor Organization in Doha. “Whether hotels, security services or transport: companies have a duty of care for their workers. We also actively promote joint committees. Employees and employers can then regularly exchange ideas there.”
In football, FC Bayern, the DFB and FIFA still have to answer critical questions about Qatar. In the economy, companies from western democracies are quietly vying for Qatari billions. And German medium-sized companies, too, so it is said, want to open their own representative office in Qatar in the near future.