The Qatari Stock Exchange dividend yield is 105.7% higher than the S&P 500 index, according to the Qatar Investment Fund.

The exchange’s dividend yield was 4.42% in 2013, more than three times that of the Nikkei, and investors now focus on the Qatari exchange’s 4.18% market yield.

“Buoyed by $165bn of government spending on infrastructure and development projects, Qatar’s economy is building momentum and diversifying away from oil and gas.”

Qatar plans to spend more than $165bn in the next four years on infrastructure projects ranging from airport expansion to rail, road and sports stadia.

The comments follow a Reuters survey that revealed that more than 50% of Middle East investment managers expected to increase allocations to Qatari equities.

Nick Wilson, chairman of the Qatar Investment Fund, said: “Investors today face sparse opportunities for generating income and Qatar shows the value of looking further afield. Dividends are a vital component of investor returns. Qatar’s quoted companies have a tradition of paying high and growing dividends, which gives solid reassurance to investors.”

Recent reports said that foreign funds were flowing into the UAE and Qatar as these markets prepare to be upgraded by MSCI to emerging market from frontier market status at the end of May.