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H.E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al-Thani, Minister of Economy and Commerce, chaired on Tuesday, January 30, 2018, a session to promote Qatari-U.S. bilateral trade and investment. The session was organized within the framework of the US-Qatar strategic dialogue in Washington.
The session brought together H.E Mr. Ali Shareef Al Emadi, Minister of Finance; and H.E Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Investment Authority along with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economy and Commerce, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Transport and Communications, Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs and Qatar Investment Authority.
The U.S. delegation, on the other hand, included the Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs and Assistant Secretary for Global Markets along with representatives of the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Affairs, the Office of International Relations, the Office of Intellectual Property Rights, and the Commercial Law Development Program.
During the meeting, His Excellency Sheikh Ahmed discussed efforts to bolster bilateral trade and highlighted cooperation prospects in various trade-related fields while tackling challenges facing the promotion of bilateral investments.
Participants also highlighted the incentives offered by the State of Qatar to attract foreign investment, and discussed mechanisms to follow up on the implementation of agreements by the US-Qatar Trade and Investment Council (TIFA).
Touching on Qatari-U.S. relations, His Excellency hailed the historic and friendly ties between the State of Qatar and the U.S.
The minister said the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) signed in 2004 bolstered these ties while noting that U.S.-Qatari Strategic Dialogue represents a key step towards building on these achievements.
His Excellency added that the meeting comes at a time of economic challenges for Qatar since the illegal blockade was imposed on the country on June 5th of last year.
However, under the wise guidance of its leadership, Qatar has managed to weather the challenges of the blockade and maintain normal activity across all economic sectors, the minister said.
The minister added that Qatar has used Hamad Port to launch new shipping routes to strategic ports around the world, improving the country’s position as a regional trade hub.
Through Hamad International Airport, Qatar has maintained passenger and cargo traffic at a normal pace to more than 150 destinations worldwide, the minister said.
But more importantly, the minister said, the siege presented Qatar an opportunity to fast track the implementation of measures aimed at achieving self-sufficiency across vital sectors, in partnership with the private sector.
He added that Qatar has pursued its years-long efforts to diversify its national economy and open up its economy to the world.
This has led to an increase in Qatar’s GDP to $220 billion USD in 2017 compared with $ 218 billion in 2016, the minister said, noting that the country’s annual real GDP growth rate at constant prices reached 2 % in 2017.
Quoting the latest report released by the World Bank, His Excellency said Qatar’s real GDP growth is expected to increase to 2.6% in 2018, adding that the contribution of the non-oil and gas sector to GDP at constant price reached 52% in 2017.
Qatar’s foreign trade has also shown remarkable growth in 2017, the minister said, adding that the total foreign trade volume has increased by 16% in 2017 to reached $ 103 billion USD, compared with $ 89 billion USD in 2016.
His Excellency noted that Qatar’s total exports increased by 19 % to reach $ 68 billion USD in 2017, from $ 57 billion in 2016, reflecting positively on the trade balance, which recorded a significant surplus at 40% – from $25 billion in 2016 to $35 billion in 2017.
All these positive indicators demonstrate that Qatar has overcome the blockade and enhanced its economic competitiveness, which positions Qatar as a highly attractive destination for US investments, the minister said.
He added that over the past months, Qatar has sought to issue new laws and to introduce key amendments to a number of existing legislation in order to attract and promote local and foreign investments.
The minister said these include a new draft law to regulate the investment of non-Qatari capital in economic activity, which the Cabinet recently endorsed in line with the directives of His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
The law facilitates foreign investor’s access to the Qatari market by providing incentives in terms of land allocation to non-Qatari investors seeking to set up projects, tax and customs exemptions and enabling the free transfer of investments to and from Qatar, the minister said.
His Excellency added that Qatar has also introduced amendments to its law on investment free zones, which provides further incentives to investors seeking to set up businesses in Qatar.
The amended law on investment free zones abolish all barriers and restrictions on capital movement and facilitates the introduction of modern technologies into investment projects, the minister said.  
He added that Qatar is currently working on the development of a public-private partnership law, which will represent a major boost to the country’s business environment.
The ratification of the law will coincide with the launch of several major projects that will attract investors in the fields of food security, sports, tourism, health, education and logistics, the minister said.
Touching on the state of the national economy, the minister said the government’s efforts bolstered Qatar’s business environment and increased the contribution of the non-oil sector to 52% of GDP in 2017.
Qatar’s success in promoting a diversified economy is evident in the country’s advanced ranking on several international indicators, the minister said, noting that Qatar ranks in second place globally in terms of providing a stable macroeconomic environment and in terms of tax impact on business, fourth globally in terms of government efficiency, 8th in terms of economic performance and 18th on the Global Competitiveness Index 2016 Report.
Touching on Qatari-U.S. bilateral ties, His Excellency said the US is Qatar’s sixth trading partner with a total of $6 billion worth of traded goods.
He added that 16% of Qatar’s imports came from the US in 2017, noting that the trade balance registered a surplus of $5 billion Dollars in favor of the US.
The minister voiced hope that Qatar and the U.S. build on friendly ties to bolster trade and economic cooperation across various sectors, which will strengthen the U.S. position as Qatar’s top trading partner.
His Excellency noted that more than 102 fully owned U.S. companies and over 505 joint Qatari-U.S. firms in the engineering, consulting, contracting, IT, commerce and services sectors are currently operating in Qatar while 40 U.S. companies are licensed under the umbrella of the Qatar Financial Centre.
Thus, the private sector in both countries is well positioned to tap a multitude of existing investment opportunities, the minister said.
According to his excellency, these include infrastructure projects related to the 2022 World Cup, investments in Qatar’s tourism sector ahead of state plans to attract 5.6 million visitors annually by 2023, in addition to large scale projects in food security, education and health services.
The minister also noted that Qatar, one of top global producers and exporters of natural gas currently operating the largest LNG fleet in the world, is working to raise its LNG production capacity from 77 million tons to 100 million tons annually, the equivalent of a 30% increase in production.
In his concluding remarks, Sheikh Ahmed said Qatar continue to prosper thanks to its success in maintaining stability to attract foreign investments. He voiced hope that the U.S. would tap the opportunities offered by Qatar to build on the historic Qatari-U.S. bilateral relations.
His Excellency also called for future TIFA meetings to take place in Doha to discuss topics on the council’s agenda ahead of the second session of the US-Qatar Strategic Dialogue.