The Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Japan Cooperation Center for the Middle East, in cooperation with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Qatar Chamber and the Qatari Businessmen Association, are organizing the Qatar-Japan Business Forum, which will take place on Wednesday, January 30, 2019 in Tokyo.
Building on existing Qatari-Japanese partnerships, the forum is aimed at strengthening joint cooperation, promoting bilateral trade, investment and industrial relations and paving the way for new partnerships between the two countries.
The forum brings together a large number of Qatari and Japanese officials and businessmen, decision-makers, investors and executives from major companies.
The event will contribute to strengthening ties and bolstering economic relations through the adoption of measures aimed at boosting bilateral trade and joint investments, creating efficient partnerships and attracting new investments to the Qatari market.
The forum provides an important networking platform that brings together Qatari and Japanese businessmen and representatives of the private sector in both countries. It will familiarize attendees with the characteristics of the business environment in Qatar, which represents an attractive destination for foreign investment given the country’s significant assets, open economy, strategic location and advanced infrastructure. The forum will also highlight Qatar’s attractive legislative environment, as well as amended laws and new legislations adopted by the State to attract and encourage foreign direct investments.
The forum will outline investment opportunities in priority sectors to pave the way for foreign investments in Qatar, particularly the country’s food industries as well as the industrial, tourism, education and sports sectors.
It will also pave the way for the ratification of new agreements and memoranda of understanding that will strengthen bilateral cooperation and contribute to the development of innovative investment areas.
The forum will feature five sessions that will touch on a number of key topics, including the evolving legislative framework in Qatar in addition to business and investment opportunities available to Japanese companies. The sessions will also shed light on investment opportunities resulting from projects aimed at increasing Qatar’s LNG production capacity, as well as opportunities relating to Qatari-Japanese cooperation and joint ventures. Discussions will also focus on infrastructure projects associated with Qatar’s preparations to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, successful joint ventures, and the success stories of Japanese companies in Qatar.
Qatar and Japan enjoy close trade and economic relations, which reflected positively on the volume of bilateral trade that amounted to nearly $16 billion in 2018. Currently, Japan ranks as Qatar’s leading trade partner, accounting for 13.8% of the country’s total foreign trade.
More than 35 fully owned Japanese companies are currently operating in Qatar, in addition to 23 joint Qatari-Japanese firms working in the fields of electrical equipment and appliances, petroleum services, water desalination and information technology.
