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Satyendra Pathak
Doha
Trade between Qatar and Germany has increased more than 33 percent to reach €1.5 billion (QR6 billion) in the first half of 2016, Qatari Businessmen Association Chairman Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim al Thani said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the Qatari-German Business Council meeting in Doha, Sheikh Faisal said that trade volume between the two countries was expected to rise up to QR10 billion by the end of this year.
Sheikh Faisal said the private sector companies of both the countries were eager to work jointly on several projects to further raise the trade volume between the two countries.
Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim al Thani, who also addressed the forum, said Qatar had brought a lot of changes in its foreign investment polices to make the country a safe haven for foreign investors.
Calling upon German companies to take advantage of the revised policies, the minister said Qatar offered a lot of opportunities for foreign companies in its bid to diversify its economy away from the hydrocarbon sector.
"Qatar is committed to promoting private sector firms in the country. We are also launching various projects on the private public partnership (PPP) model to rope in private companies for working on mega projects like Doha Metro, Hamad Port and projects related to 2020 FIFA World Cup. We need the expertise of German companies to carry out such projects," the minister noted.
There are several other important sectors in Qatar like telecommunications, agriculture and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) where the expertise of German firms is required to achieve the desired results.
Expressing happiness over the trade volume between Qatar and Germany rising at a rapid pace, the minister said it demonstrated the strength of the trade relations between the two countries.
German investment in Qatar has grown in the recent past as the number of German-owned companies in Qatar had reached 27, the minister said, while adding that the number of Qatari-German joint venture companies in Qatar had also gone up to 112.
The minister said that trade exchange between Qatar and Germany accounted for 2.4 percent of Qatar's total trade.
The minister added that the imports from Germany to Qatar had risen at a rapid pace in the recent times and accounted for almost 7.5 percent of Qatar's total imports from all over the world.
The minister also expressed hope that trade exchanges between the two countries would continue to grow in the years to come.
German ambassador to Qatar HE Hans-Udo Muzel, who also addressed the forum, said the outcome of the fifth session of the Qatari-German joint commission on trade, economic and technical cooperation was very positive as the two sides discussed several ways to promote trade between the two countries.
At the end of the forum, Sheikh Ahmed and German Deputy Minister of Economy and Energy Matthias Maching signed on the minutes of the fifth session of the Qatari-German joint commission on trade, economic and technical cooperation.
