I'm quite new to stackoverflow so I can't make a comment on your latest answer. I see that you are able to correctly install GDAL library. Did you use prebuilt binaries from OSGEO4W? the link you provided is not working for me. I'm trying to compile GDAL to my app which was compiled using Qt MinGW. I've tried using the binaries on vcpkgs and msys2 and still getting gdal linking problem to my application.