Qatar hits back; bans goods from its 4 tormentor countries

It's payback time for Qatar. Almost after a year since Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut ties with the gas-rich country in West Asia, Doha has decided to stop consuming goods from its rivals, said a Bloomberg report.

According to a circular sent on Saturday, May 26, Qatar's economy ministry has ordered its shops to stop accepting products imported from those four countries, the report added, saying inspectors were set to visit the stores to ensure that the ban was complied with.

On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt snapped ties with Qatar on charges of backing terrorist groups and having close ties with Iran, perceived as a common enemy. Qatar had to import its goods via Kuwait and Oman and buy goods from Iran and Turkey.

The embargo did not hit it much as Qatar's economy grew faster than most of its neighbours in 2017 and is also expected to outperform them this year, the International Monetary Fund said, the Bloomberg report added.

Qatar, which has evolved as an important economic and strategic power in West Asia, is planning to attract more foreign investments and build a financial hub for firms based in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Pakistan, the Bloomberg report added.