Sovereign wealth funds rarely reshuffle the furniture, but when they do, it is worth noting who gets the best rooms. Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, has announced the creation of Doha Investment, a dedicated platform that will take custody of the Qatar Investment Authority’s domestic portfolio and, with it, the country’s most prized possessions. The inheritance is formidable: Qatar Airways Group, QNB Group, Ooredoo Group, Qatari Diar, Katara Hospitality and Hassad Food lead a stable of more than 40 companies operating in over 80 markets, spanning finance, transport and logistics, telecoms and technology, real estate, hospitality, food and agriculture. Hassad Food, Qatar’s agricultural steward, has taken a layered approach to keeping the nation’s pantry reliably stocked, shoring up food security on several fronts at once. More than 20 of them posted revenues above QAR 1 billion in 2025, which makes this less a new venture than a formal introduction of the family’s crown jewels to their own dedicated keeper, leaving QIA free to cast its gaze abroad.
Yet Doha Investment is not content merely to polish the heirlooms. Its mandate extends to minting new champions in advanced technologies, manufacturing, supply chain and healthcare, beginning with Qai, a national artificial intelligence platform intended to bring trusted AI to both business and the wider public. The ambitions are suitably grand: high-skilled jobs, sturdier local supply chains, a deeper bench of national talent and, as more valuable companies come of age, capital markets with enough depth to tempt international investors and fast-growing businesses to Doha. It all serves Qatar’s Third National Development Strategy, which envisions the private sector becoming the principal engine of a diversified economy, a notable aspiration for a state whose fortunes have long flowed from beneath the Gulf. In the grand Gulf competition for relevance beyond hydrocarbons, Doha has made its move, and done so with characteristic poise.
