The Minister of Economy and Commerce, H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, at the Turkey-Qatar B2B meeting in the Turkish city of Izmir, yesterday.
The Minister of Economy and Commerce, H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, highlighted Qatar’s keenness to continue business transactions with its major trading partners and the rest of the world, stressing that the Qatari economy will not be affected by the illegal measures taken by only 4 countries on the commercial level.
Qatar has been able to overcome various challenges of the export movement and the movement of ports and airports and maintained the continuity of development and growth of all economic sectors, the Minster said, adding that Qatar is one of the largest producers and exporters of natural gas in the world and has the world’s largest fleet of LNG carriers. The Minister highlighted the significant role of Hamad Port in activating the movement of imports and providing alternatives for the different goods after the arbitrary closure of the state’s only land access.
He said the project is one of the biggest and most important ports in the Middle East and has managed to develop direct lines with a number of strategic ports around the world, adding that Hamad International Airport has also helped in maintaining a continuous passenger and cargo traffic at a normal pace to more than 150 world destinations.
Economic policies
The Minister stressed that the successful economic policies of the State of Qatar have enhanced the national economy’s status in the different international reports. Qatar ranked second globally in terms of providing a stable macroeconomic environment and was eighth in the Economy Performance Index, the minister said, adding that Qatar also was 18th on the Global Competitiveness Index 2016, while Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is 14th globally boasting 335 billion in assets across the world.
The Minister shed the light on the country’s macroeconomic indices, saying that non-oil sectors contribute more than 70 percent of the nominal GDP in 2016 and the Qatari economy provides substantial investment opportunities not only in the field of food security but also in the logistics, sports, tourism and health sectors.
Addressing ties between the State of Qatar and the Republic of Turkey, the Minister said the two countries enjoy unique bilateral and fraternal ties that consolidated and strengthened over decades in the different fields. He added that these ties reflected positively on the volume of trade exchange, which amounted to QR2bn ($547m) in the first half of 2017.
H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani said the Republic of Turkey’s supportive stance for the State of Qatar during the current crisis is an extension of the march of historic ties between the two countries, which deepened in light of the wise leadership of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyib Erdogan.
Private sector praised
The Minister praised the efforts of the Qatari and Turkish private sector in breaking the illegal siege imposed on Qatar by providing high-quality alternatives for several goods, stressing that the Turkish product proved its worth in the Qatari market.
Concluding his speech, The Minister expressed hope that the forum would lead to boosting the volume of trade exchange between the two countries, discussing means of facilitating the flow of Turkish products from the different sectors, and entering into successful strategic and investment partnerships that would consolidate the status of both economies and enhance their ability to tackle any future challenges.
On the sidelines of a programme held for the Qatari delegation, Minister of Economy and Commerce H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani and Minister of Economy of Turkey, Nihat Zeybekci, held a meeting during which they discussed a bilateral agreement between Qatar and Turkey to increase the flow of trade and investment, facilitate the movement of trade and increase the volume of trade exchange between the two countries.
WTO position outlined
The Minister also explained Qatar’s position in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its recent action to lodge a formal complaint with the WTO dispute settlement body against the siege countries for breaching WTO’s laws and basic agreements, especially those related to trade in goods and services as well as aspects of intellectual property related to trade.
The event, attended by more than 100 businessmen from Qatar, saw a series of meetings between Qatari businessmen and their Turkish counterparts to discuss ways of enhancing trade relations and reviewing investment opportunities available in both countries to establish joint ventures in Turkey or in Qatar. These meetings and bilateral meetings resulted in the signing of a number of agreements and memorandums of understanding between Qatari and Turkish companies in various fields.
Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI) stressed its keenness to establish close relations with the chambers of commerce in Turkey for the sake of the private sectors in both countries, said Mohammed Mahdi Al Ahbabi, Member of the QCCI Board of Directors, adding that the QCCI has agreements and memorandums of understanding with a number of Turkish counterparts, including memorandums of understanding with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, and another with Istanbul chamber.
Mutual visits
In his speech during the opening of the event in the Turkish city of Izmir, Al Ahbabi noted QCCI’s keenness on increasing mutual visits between the Qatari and Turkish sides to discuss the opportunities available in both countries and create partnerships between businessmen from both sides.
He pointed out that the Qatari delegation includes a group of Qatari companies operating in the fields of building materials and construction, foodstuffs, plastic and paper industries, electricity, tools and medicines, which will allow for the signing of cooperation agreements between the Qatari and Turkish sides, and create alliances between businessmen to set up joint projects especially in the health, education, tourism, construction and contracting sectors. Al Ahbabi pointed out that QCCI encouraged Qatari businessmen to direct their investments to Turkey due to its attractive investment advantages as well as its strong relations with Qatar, hoping that the meeting will be an opportunity to enhance joint cooperation.
