Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during the presentation ceremony of Ministry of Culture and Tourism Special Awards at presidential complex in Ankara, Turkey on February 09, 2017. (Murat Kula - Anadolu Agency)
President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan will arrive for a two-day in Doha today on an official visit.
Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and the Turkish President will tomorrow discuss at the Emiri Diwan the relations between the two countries and ways of strengthening them, as well as the latest developments on the regional and international arenas.
Qatar and Turkey enjoy integrated and coordinated relations at all levels based on shared visions towards Arab, regional and international issues, which made a positive impact on the volume of trade exchange and fruitful economic cooperation between the two brotherly countries, Qatar News Agency said yesterday. Turkey has become one of the attractive markets for Qatari investors.
Qatar and Turkey one on many foreign issues
Qatari investments have exceeded $1bn, supported by the increasing number of Qatari tourists to Turkey which reached about 35,000 visitors in 2016.
In addition, Turkey represents an important economic destination for Qatar for enjoying promising investment opportunities in all fields, including energy, transport, tourism, banking, real estate and others.
The Qatari investments in Turkey ranks second in terms of size, reaching more than $20bn, and it is expected to become in the first place within a few years. Economic and trade relations between Doha and Ankara witnessed great development.
The economic cooperation index has tripled in a short period of time, in addition to the Turkish companies operating in Qatar in infrastructure development and the World Cup projects. The turnover of those companies amounted to about $14bn at the end of 2016.
Qatar and Turkey have joint political stances towards several foreign issues, especially on what is happening in Syria and Iraq, as well as issued related to the Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people.
The launch of the Qatari-Turkish Supreme Strategic Committee in 2014, and the convening of its first meeting in Doha in December 2015 under the chairmanship of the Emir and the Turkish President has contributed to expanding the relations between the two countries at all levels through signing 22 agreements in all aspects of cooperation, including politics, security, finance, industry and energy, banks, and education and universities.
In the banking and financial sectors, Qatar has become one of the biggest buyers of financial assets in the Turkish market recently in light of the Qatari banks' trend in the past few years to invest abroad.
Qatar National Bank acquired the share of the National Bank of Greece in "Financebank" in Turkey which holds 99.81% for $2.94 billion. "Finance bank" is the fifth-largest bank owned by the private sector in Turkey, in terms of total assets and customer deposits with a nationwide distribution network of over 620 branches and more than 12 thousand employees, with more than 5.3 million active customers.
With regard to the private sector, the number of Turkish companies operating in the State of Qatar with a Qatari-Turkish capital has reached 242, while the number of Turkish-capitalized companies is 26 in the country.
The most prominent aspects of the Qatari-Turkish economic cooperation will be witnessed this year with the two countries taking part, for the first time, in organizing the upcoming event (Expo Turkey by Qatar) in April, aiming to ensure greater economic potential.
