Qatar
Meetings are typically formal with visiting businessmen expected to wear lightweight suit and tie. Politeness and patience in business dealings are needed. Arabic is the official language of Qatar, but English is widely spoken and is generally acceptable in private and public sectors. Office hours are 0730-1230 and 1430-1800 Saturday to Thursday. Government office hours are 0600-1300 Saturday to Thursday
Crimes against the expatriate community are currently confined to burglary and petty theft. Assaults against foreigners are rare but they do occur. Violent crimes such as rape, murder, aggravated assaults are confined to the poorer minority ethnic community and "guest workers" from South Asia. Street crime is rare in most sections of Doha but does take place in the poorer areas of the city.
With the increasing flow of foreign workers into Doha, there is an increasing number of prostitutes and the crimes they bring with them. Recently several foreign nationals have been assaulted while in the company of a prostitute.
There are also a number of business class hotels offering reasonable accommodation. Advanced booking is strongly advised.
Telephone IDD service is available. The country code is 974. There are no area codes. The outgoing international code is 0. Qatar enjoys excellent local and international telecommunications facilities. A second earth satellite station was completed in 1988 and mobile telephone services (using the GSM system) were inaugurated in February 1994. Automatic telephone and fax dialing is available to more than 150 countries worldwide.
Electricity is 240/415 volts AC, 50Hz.
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While the best food is generally found in hotels, Chinese, Indian, Persian, Thai, US and Western cuisine is also available. All the major hotels have good public restaurants and most offer outside catering of high quality; waiters, crockery and cutlery will be provided on request. There are a reasonable number of places to eat in Doha, including snack bars serving fast foods, as well as the traditional Levantine shawarma and Egyptian foul and taamiyeh. Restaurants are scarce outside the capital.
Alcohol is prohibited and should not be consumed in public, though some
international hotels may serve alcohol. Tipping:
Taxi drivers do not expect a tip. A service charge is often added to bills in hotels and most restaurants, otherwise 10 per cent is appropriate.Nightlife
Public entertainment is rather limited. Doha has a cinema showing English-language films, and there is also the National Theater. Live entertainment is infrequent, but some international artists do perform in Qatar.
