DOHA – Qatar is spending massively to modernize its capital ahead of the 2022 World Cup. Trucks can be seen speeding around Doha's business district, carrying building materials for the $150 billion makeover that will give the city a new metro, airport, seaport and roads. In the busy years leading up to the soccer tournament, Doha will see an influx of foreign companies, professionals and workers. With them will come a fresh flood of foreign cultures and lifestyles, and that is causing concern. “This is the real challenge for us: To maintain our culture while building the country we will become,” said 33-year-old Abdulrahman, who like other Qatari citizens preferred to be identified only by his first name. Exploiting its immense natural gas resources has in just over 15 years transformed Qatar into one of the world's wealthiest nations, with a per capita annual income for its 250,000 citizens of well over $90,000. “We welcome the expats, and we want them here. But we will not permit any disrespect to our religion or culture,” said Salma, a 25-year-old Qatari. “This is your home, for now. But it is our home forever, and we will not bend to your ways.” Efforts to combat the perceived creep of Western influence have already started. Earlier this year, Qatar University made it mandatory for many of its courses to be taught in Arabic instead of English. As in the United Arab Emirates, in recent months a campaign against immodest dress has been launched via posters and flyers distributed in malls, hypermarkets and other public places. The campaign, organized by an Islamic cultural group, aims to explain to expat women that Islamic tradition requires them to dress modestly when in public. “The Qataris don't want to see their country's culture given over to foreigners. You'd get serious anger if that ever happened. And the leadership is very sensitive to that,” said Michael Stephens, researcher at the Royal United Services Institute based in Doha. “The government has said very clearly, ‘We do not want to be (liberal like) Dubai. We will not become Dubai.' And even if they did want to, they couldn't have it here. The local population would not accept it.” One of the reasons that Qatar has been able to retain its conservative nature is that unlike Dubai, it does not need to rely on mass market tourism, and focuses instead on the more discreet, high end of the industry so as to become known as a cultural and conference center for the region. “We don't want people to come for a $50 room to lie on the beach all day and walk around with a backpack and shorts. These are not the type of people we're targeting,” the Chairman of the Qatar Tourism Authority, Ahmed Abdullah Al-Nuaimi, told Reuters last year. “For the last five or six years we've invested in high-end hotels and facilities, high-end convention centers and museums. But we're not looking for it to be a revenue-generating industry,” he said. “If (the tourism market) crashes, it makes no difference for us.” “There are two basic ways in which they will keep the local population happy while continuing to grow the country,” said a foreign businessman in Doha. “By keeping the local population wealthy and employed, and making sure the Islamic nature of the country is maintained.” Last year the country's emir issued a decree boosting basic salaries and social benefits for state civilian employees by 60 percent, a 10 billion riyal ($2.75 billion) increase. – Reuters
