[Music] Not only is the World Cup the largest International sporting event ever it's Also a massive financial and tourism Opportunity for the host country and That's why host countries buy so much For them cutter is estimated to have Spent 220 billion dollars on the World Cup here's a look at the crowd before Today's match between Mexico and Poland More than 1.2 million fans are expected To visit Qatar during the month-long Tournament that's almost half of the Country's entire population let's bring In Anne Barry she's the global economic A global Economist and founder of thread Needle Ventures uh welcome thanks for Making the time to walk us through uh World Cup something I could be talking About all day long do you expect to see Cutter Get a return on that multi-billion Investment especially multi-dollar Billion investment especially with so Many conversations that are happening And so many roadblocks if you will of How it all came together and the Concerns over human rights Just to put in context that that number And the spend I think you decided uh 200 Billion dollars of spent preparing for The World Cup arrival it's an Extraordinary number when you look at Well the overall annual GDP of Qatar is
Which is also roughly in that 200 Billion dollar range this is an enormous Investment for the country when you take A step back and look at what qatar's Primary revenue sources as a nation has Been historically it has been oil Natural gas and from sectors adjacent to Those such as petrochemicals and Fertilizers Um this is a really important step for Qatar hosting the World Cup in trying to Support attempts to diversify the Economy Qatar looks to Nations like Singapore which has become a real Tech And financial Hub or Dubai that's moved Successfully into hospital um Hospitality entertainment and media for Example and this is Carter's attempt to Do the same this is a really pivotal Moment in the economic trajectory of That Nation And I want to follow up with you on that Point uh Cutter's primary source of Revenue is its oil reserves Um how much does it actually need a Return on its investment how important Is it for it to diversify the economy And Is it actually pursuing something Besides the dollars in in trying to host The World Cup and and hosting the World Cup this time Well in terms of whether the nation Needs to see a return I think when you
Look at the scale of dependency that Qatar has on oil and gas and just put it In context that the nation accounts for About 14 of the global deposits of Natural gas then clearly um the Immediate Revenue generation of the Nation will continue to come from those Commodity sectors but for the nation to Diversify longer terms you know these Are finite resources there are not going To be carbon resources uh in the Geography forever so there needs to be a Longer term plan and this really is the First step to put towards building the Infrastructure building the facilities Uh and really raising Global awareness Of Carter that's going to in the eyes of The nation hopefully attract further Foreign direct investment in Non-commodity related Industries down The line so I think the return is going To be longer gestation Um but absolutely necessary if culture Is going to be successful in replicating Again what Singapore and Dubai have done Which is diversifying Um and I want to go back to something You know I'm going to age my yourself Here a little bit but about 12 years ago I not about 12 years ago I covered the World Cup in South Africa and part of my Assignment was to tell all these stories About all the things that are going on In the country from extreme sports to
You know the history of the country it Was all kind of very positive so it Feels different yeah broad visibility to This great place and that Sparks tourism And interest but in terms of Qatar right Now a lot of the attention and the Scrutiny has to do with human rights and Of course having that Spotlight there Has brought to light issues with women's Rights with the rights of the lgbtq Community and of course with uh the Migrant workers and and their rights and The kind of Labor that put together These and that build these big stadiums Do you think that the country can still Find success in the tourism industry in The face of all these controversies Well in terms of the public relations Exercise that has surrounded this world Cup to your point it has been very Challenging even before the tournament Started there's been controversy around The way in which Qatar was selected by FIFA uh to host the World Cup this year To your point on uh human rights Challenges those have been very much at The Forefront of the coverage of the Tournament but I do think that this has Done is um shun the light on these Issues uh brought them to the floor in The conversation and so at least what I Do think is uh progress Um and can be supportive of the path That cultural seems to want to go down
Which is diversifying and openings of Upper tourism issues that were not Previously being openly talked about are Now being openly talked about they're Very much at the top of the agenda in The way in which This World Cups being Discussed and as a result the Conversation is now open for ways in Which the nation can solve these issues I think that is the development I think It's going to be slow uh to come to Remediation and to come to solutions That attract tourism on Mass but I think At least this is a start I like the Positive angle that you're taking there And that cutter maybe will Decide that it needs to make some Progress on some of those issues and how They'll respond to it exactly and Barry Thank you My pleasure thank you
