DOHA: Qatar’s gross domestic product should grow 3.5 percent in 2022, Central Bank Gov. Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al-Thani told a conference on Sunday in Doha. The energy-rich Gulf emirate plans to start licensing financial technology companies soon, he added. Fitch Ratings in April forecast Qatar’s GDP would grow 3.2 percent in 2022, from 1.6 percent in 2021, reflecting increased output from the soccer World Cup that the country is hosting in November and December and the post-pandemic recovery. According to an Arab Monetary Fund report issued this year, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar were the most competitive Arab economies between 2017 and 2020. The report monitors the economic competitiveness of Arab countries and the government measures taken in this regard.