DOHA, July 2 -- In 2025, for the first time, the majority of companies that chose Qatar as the site of a new foreign investment project came for technology, consumer goods, and business services, not for liquefied natural gas contracts. The composition of demand, more than the headline dollar figure, is the story behind Invest Qatar's annual data released Tuesday.

Total foreign direct investment reached $3.4 billion across 373 projects last year, according to official data released by Invest Qatar, the Gulf state's government-backed investment promotion agency. Project count rose 52 percent from 245 the prior year, with 15,051 jobs created. More than half of the capital landed in greenfield operations (companies building from scratch rat...