​His Excellency called on participants to benefit from the investment opportunities and incentives offered by the State of Qatar in various sectors.H.E. Minister of Economy and Commerce says the issuance of a Public Private Partnership Law will facilitate the establishment of new projects across various sectors.Qatar is globally recognized as a country where “rule of law” prevailsQatar ranks 10th globally in terms of the strength of institutionsQatar has recently promulgated several laws promoting business, most notably the new international arbitration law, the Commercial Companies Law and the Labor Law.Qatar is home to a high-quality education system, ranking fifth on the Quality of Education IndexQatar allocates 2.8 percent of GDP to research and development.Qatar is home to leading educational institutions such as Qatar Foundation, Qatar University, and Hamad Bin Khalifa University.Up to 100 percent foreign ownership for most sectors.Invested foreign capital is exempt from income tax for up to 10 years from the date of operation of the investment project.Qatar offers key investment incentives, such as exempting imported large machinery and raw materials from taxes, refraining from imposing restrictions on capital and profit repatriation, in addition to allowing the free transfer of company ownershipThe forum featured two workshops, during which Qatari officials reviewed the most important investment projects for the FIFA 2022 World Cup, transportation, Challenges and Opportunities for Qatari-Singaporean Cooperation, and Qatar challenges in the Energy sector.
 
HE Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassem bin Mohammed Al-Thani, Qatar’s Minister of Economy and Commerce, and HE Mr. S. Iswaran, Singapore’s Minister of Trade and Industry, participated in the Qatar-Singapore Economic Forum on Tuesday, October 17, 2017 in Singapore. The forum, which was organized by the Qatari Ministry of Economy and Commerce, in cooperation with the Singaporean Ministry of Trade and Industry, comes within the framework of H.H. the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani’s visit to Singapore.
 
The forum brought together HE Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, Chairman of Qatar Chamber  and HE Mr S.S. Teo, Chairman of Singapore Business Federation, along with more than 450 businessmen, investors, government officials, company executives, economic bodies and experts at the largest ever forum to be held in Singapore in cooperation with a Middle Eastern country to gain insight into investment opportunities across various sectors, such as the trade, agriculture, tourism, industry, and services sectors, as well as the wider economic fields of both countries.
 
HE Sheikh Ahmed highlighted the competitiveness of the Qatari economy and the numerous incentives it offers to investors, while praising economic and trade relations between Qatar and Singapore. His Excellency also underscored Qatar’s strategic location, which contributes to increasing its attractiveness as an investment destination, and shed light on the country’s advanced infrastructure and its position as the world’s largest natural gas exporter.
 
He noted that Qatar is highly competitive in the energy market thanks to its rich natural gas and oil resources, noting that the nation is also the world’s leading exporter of liquefied natural gas and helium, and the fourth-largest producer of Urea in the world.
 
Sheikh Ahmed stressed that Qatar has also succeeded in delivering an array of world-class infrastructure projects over the past few years. These include Hamad International Airport, one of the world’s largest airports, that will soon accommodate 50 million passengers annually, and Hamad Port, with a capacity of 7.5 million containers. Qatar also hosts an advanced network of highways while its globally leading airline carrier, Qatar Airways, connects the country to more than 150 destinations worldwide.
 
Touching on the laws and legislative framework established to regulate the business environment, His Excellency stressed Qatar’s efforts to consolidate the concept of the rule of law, an important characteristic of the Qatari legislative environment at the global level, as demonstrated by the country’s ranking in 10th place on the Institutional Strength Index. Qatar has recently issued several laws to promote business, namely a new International Arbitration Law, a Commercial Companies Law and a Labor Law.
 
His Excellency added that Qatar is currently working on issuing a Public Private Partnership Law that will facilitate the establishment of new projects in the areas of health and education, among other sectors.
 
The Minister also highlighted Qatar’s advanced ranking on several international indices, noting the country’s leading position in terms of low inflation, business safety, the impact of taxes in business and the government efficiency index.
 
His Excellency outlined the programs and policies adopted by Qatar to establish an attractive investment environment for various economic projects, noting that the country has achieved significant growth driven by an increase in the contribution of the oil and non-oil sectors to GDP. Qatar has continued to achieve stable real GDP growth rates of 3.3 % over the last three years despite fluctuations in oil prices, which demonstrates the strength of the Qatari economy. The Minister also highlighted the strength of the Qatari riyal, which has been pegged to the US dollar since 1982.
 
Sheikh Ahmed noted that Qatar has developed a comprehensive environment to attract investors, reflecting the state’s belief that the country’s business climate and institutional framework are equally important to its advanced infrastructure. He also highlighted the incentives offered to investors by the Qatar Financial Centre, the Qatar Science and Technology Park, as well as Logistics and Industrial zones, adding that the development of a Sport Business Park, which will be dedicated to sports companies involved in the organization of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, is underway.
 
Touching on the education sector, the Minister said Qatar is home to a very high-quality education system, ranking fifth globally on the quality of education index, according to the World Economic Forum. The country has allocated 2.8 % of its GDP for research & development, and is home to some of the world’s leading educational institutions,  such as Qatar Foundation, Qatar University, and Hamad Bin Khalifa University, as well as leading international leading universities such as Texas A&M, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, and Georgetown.
 
His Excellency urged the business community to tap investment opportunities offered by Qatar, noting that the state is providing important incentives in a number of priority sectors, including industry, agriculture, health, education, information technology, tourism and sports.
 
Highlighting incentives provided by the state, Sheikh Ahmed said non-Qatari investors can contribute up to 100% of investment projects in several economic sectors, while invested foreign capital is exempted from income tax for up to ten years from the date of operating an investment project. Qatar also offers key investment incentives, such as exempting imported large machinery and raw materials from taxes, and refraining from imposing restrictions on capital and profit repatriation, in addition to allowing the free transfer of company ownership
 
Turning to Singapore-Qatar relations, the Minister highlighted promising opportunities and a prosperous future for bilateral economic and trade ties, noting that Singapore ranks as Qatar’s 7th largest trade partner, with a total trade of 3.5 billion USD. Qatar’s exports to Singapore reached three billion USD in 2016. On the other hand, Singapore’s exports to Qatar stood at more than 350 million USD in 2016.
 
His Excellency voiced his hope that the forum will provide an opportunity to establish action plans aimed at increasing economic cooperation and bolstering bilateral trade and investment, as well as paving the way for partnerships and joint investments between Qatari businessmen and their Singaporean counterparts.
 
For his part, Singaporean Minister of Trade and Industry HE Mr. S. Iswaran lauded the distinguished relations between the two countries, noting that Qatar represents a strategic trading partner for Singapore, which imports the bulk of its natural gas needs from Qatar. The Singaporean minister also praised the economic forum, while highlighting promising bilateral opportunities and productive partnerships.
 
HE Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassem bin Mohammed Al Thani, Chairman of Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stressed the importance of the Qatar-Singapore Economic Forum and the role it can play in enhancing relations between the private sector in both countries. Sheikh Khalifa outlined the competitiveness of the Qatari and Singaporean economies, as well as similarities in several areas, which he said will contribute to successful partnerships across various sectors.
 
Sheikh Khalifa said the Qatari private sector is playing a pivotal role in economic development thanks to the laws and regulations enacted by the state. This has prompted the private sector to take the initiative in the wake of the illegal blockade imposed on Qatar, and overcame subsequent challenges thanks to the wise vision of its leadership and its cohesion with Qatari people.
 
Sheikh Khalifa welcomed Singaporean investments in Qatar, noting that Qatari businessmen aspire to enter into positive partnerships with their Singaporean counterparts, which will reflect positively on the economies of both countries across several sectors. He also stressed that these partnerships will bring added value to the economies of Qatar and Singapore who should capitalize on their prime geographical locations.
 
Mr. S.S. Teo, Chairman of the Singapore Business Federation, also praised the Qatar- Singapore Economic Forum as Singapore’s ever largest economic forum with any Middle Eastern country, saying it contributes to the development of Qatari-Singaporean relations in the economic, trade and investment fields.
 
He added that the business sector in Singapore has gained insight into the enormous business prospects in various Qatari sectors and looks forward to building positive partnerships between businessmen and companies from both countries, noting that Qatar and Singapore enjoy excellent relations and are looking forward to developing them through shared political will.
 
The forum featured two workshops. The first touched on Qatar Challenges and Opportunities for Joint Projects & Investment, brought together Mr Nabeel Mohammed Al-Bouainain, CEO of Qatari Diar; Mr Hamad Al Mulla, CEO of Katara Hospitality; Mr Mohamed Al Sada, CEO of Hassad Food; and Mr Khalid Al Mana, executive Director of Qatar Development Bank.
 
The second workshop touched on transportation, the FiFA 2022 World Cup, programme delivery, challenges and opportunities for Qatari-Singaporean cooperation, and Qatar’s challenges in the energy sector.
The workshop was attended by Mr. Fahad Rashid al Kaabi, CEO of Manateq Company; Eng. Ghanim Al Kuwari, Competition Venues Executive Director of Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy; Sheikh Meshal bin Jabor Al-Thani, Director of Energy Affairs at Ministry of Energy & Industry; and Mr. Abdulaziz Al Yafei, Director of Hamad Port.
 
The forum also featured bilateral meetings between businessmen from both countries to discuss investment opportunities as well as measures to bolster long-term economic cooperation, so to enable Qatari companies to draw lessons from their Singaporean counterparts’ success.
 
The Economic Forum is the latest in a series of key initiatives aimed at highlighting the competitiveness of Qatar’s economy and business environment, which will further contribute to attracting foreign direct investment.