New Delhi, July 2 -- Greenfield investors planted factories, software operations, and food-processing businesses in Qatar last year even as a war was being fought in the region, expanding the number of new foreign projects by 52 percent at a moment when geopolitical volatility was supposed to be taking a toll.

consumer products, business services, food and beverages, software and IT services, and textiles accounted for 69 percent of all incoming projects, a cross-section that reflects a deliberate move away from contract-heavy energy and infrastructure deals toward recurring-revenue businesses with deeper local footprints.

More than half of the $3.4 billion in capital expenditure went to greenfield operations. Investors were not buying ...