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California

Overview

California is located on the west coast of the United States. California’s capital is Sacramento and its largest city is Los Angeles, which also is a destination for Qatar Airways for both passengers and cargo. It is the third largest state in land mass but has the largest population at an estimated 39.51 million people. Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose are 3 of the top 10 most populated cities in the US. California’s GDP in 2019 was $3,132,801,000,000.

The state’s top industries include aerospace and defense, agriculture and ag tech, biotech, cleantech, film and TV, manufacturing, tourism, wood product and biomass, and zero emission vehicles. California has a $54 billion agriculture industry, with over 76,000 farms and ranches. There was $4.9 billion in venture capital investments for agri-food tech startups in 2019 alone. California also has over 35,000 manufacturing companies, which support more than 1.3 million jobs. In 2018, the state saw $154 billion of exported manufactured goods, and a 14% job growth rate in aerospace and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

In 2019, California imported $28,816,392 from Qatar. The top three imports are aluminum and articles thereof; special classification provisions; and plastics and articles thereof. In 2019, California exported $316,188,478 to Qatar with its top exports being: aircraft, spacecraft and articles thereof; natural pearls, precious stones and minerals, and coins; and nuclear reactors, boilers, and machinery. Qatar has a number of investments and connections in California. Qatar Investment Authority has invested in Califia Farms, Mesosphere, Codak Bioscience, GRAIL, ThoughtSpot, Uber, and SoFi. QIA, in partnership with a hedge fund, has also bought Gigacom and real estate in the LA/Beverly Hills area, as well as Miramax. Six years after the purchase of Miramax, it was sold to beIN. beIN also has a strategic partnership with DreamWorks Studios and Warner Brothers. Qatar also has a consulate general in Beverly Hills.

The state of California considers an entity to be “doing business” in California if you engage in any transaction for the purpose of financial gain within California, if an entity is organized or commercially domicile in California, or if its sales, property or payroll exceed certain thresholds. An entity is subject to California tax laws if it meets any of these three requirements. For more information, visit here: http://www.taxes.ca.gov California has over 20 incentive programs, including the Jump Start Loan Program and the Sales & Use Tax (STE) Program. San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Port Hueneme, Fresno, Palm Springs, Victorville, Eureka, Calexico and the Meadows Field Airport are where the state’s 17 free trade zones are located.