His Excellency Mr. Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, Minister of Commerce and Industry, met today with Mr. Khush Choksy, Senior Vice President for Middle East and Turkey Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who is currently visiting Doha.
Discussions touched on the promotion of cooperation between the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Both sides discussed the promotion of bilateral relations between Qatar and U.S. on the economic, industrial, and commercial levels as well as the opportunities to bolster bilateral trade in view of the economic resources and potential of both countries.
Discussions touched on the latest developments in the two countries’ bilateral economic, commercial, investment, and industrial relations, and measures to strengthen these ties.
H.E. the Minister of Commerce and Industry shed light on investment opportunities in Qatar across all sectors. Legislation has been adopted by Qatar and initiatives launched to support the private sector, aimed at stimulating foreign direct investment and attracting more American companies to the already growing number in the Qatari market.
H.E added that the Ministry will organize a special event for the private sector during the U.S. Strategic Dialogue to be held in January 2019 with attendance by top management from government and private organizations to discuss investment and commerce.
H.E. voiced hope that the event would be well attended by American companies, which could benefit from a presence in Qatar.
U.S participating companies will be presented with details of the advanced infrastructure provided by Qatar to investors and have a forum to explore the available investment opportunities with Qatari business leaders.
During the meeting, both sides discussed ways to support joint investments and encourage the private sector to establish innovative investment initiatives in the major economic sectors, which will benefit both countries.
The two sides stressed the importance of exchanging visits between businesspersons, and strengthening cooperation between governmental bodies and the private sector to serve the joint interests of Qatar and the U.S.
Qatar and the U.S. enjoy close economic and trade relations, which have reflected positively on the volume of bilateral trade, which reached about QAR 22 billion in the first 10 months of 2018. The U.S. is Qatar’s fifth largest trading partner with 6.23 percent of Qatar’s total trade exchange.
More than 650 U.S. companies currently operate in Qatar, of which 117 are fully U.S. owned, in addition to over 55 U.S. companies licensed under the Qatar Financial Centre umbrella.
