The Qatari Businessmen Association meeting with Sir Edwards Lister, Chief Strategic Advisor to Prime Minister Boris Johnson
The Qatari Businessmen Association organized a business meeting with Sir Edward Lister, Chief Strategic Advisor to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. in the presence of H.E. John Wilkes, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the State of Qatar, on the sidelines of Sir Edward Lister's visit as the first foreign trade delegation to visit Doha during the global crisis. This confirms the strength of the bilateral relations between the State of Qatar and the United Kingdom, and confirms that it is a strategic investment and commercial partner for Qatar
From the Qatari Businessmen Association, the meeting was headed by H.E. Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani, QBA Chairman, and attended by Mr. Hussein Al Fardan, First Deputy to the Chairman. From QBA Board member, Sheikh Nawaf bin Nasser, Mr. Sherida Al Kaabi, and Mr. Saud Al Mana attended the meeting as well as Ms. Sarah Abdallah, QBA Deputy General Manager.
At the beginning of the meeting, Sheikh Faisal welcomed the guests, praising the strong bilateral and historical relations between the State of Qatar and the United Kingdom. He also talked about the necessity of continuing to follow up on the progress of the economic relations between the two countries and work to develop them even in light of the current crisis.
For his part, Sir Edward Lister thanked QBA for this meeting, stressing the commitment of the United Kingdom to work closely with the State of Qatar and the Qatari private sector to develop economic cooperation between the two countries, especially after Brexit and setting its own trade policies, which would enhance these relations and their development to suit the ambitions of the two countries. Sir Edward also stressed the British government's interest in encouraging British companies to launch outside Britain, and to find global partnerships and invest in foreign markets, currently marketing the term (Global Britain). Sir Edward added that this visit aims to convey the message of the United Kingdom to its economic partners around the world that it is now more open than before and that its economic future is not limited to Europe only, but to the whole world.
During the meeting, the members discussed ways to increase cooperation between the two countries. Mr. Hussein Al-Fardan referred to the importance of increasing the presence of British companies in Doha and to create new partnerships in cooperation with the British Embassy team, and the need to increase the volume of trade exchange between the two countries, which the British Ambassador H.E. John Wilkes stated that it increased by 20%.
For his part, Sheikh Nawaf bin Nasser, QBA Board member, pointed out the need to discuss with the British side establishing trade agreements that support commercial activities between the two parties, such as the double taxation agreement, which Qatar already have with other countries like France, and which would support increasing the volume of the Bilateral trade between Qatar and UK. Sheikh Nawaf also spoke about the need to encourage UK’s SMEs to explore the Qatari market, stressing out the role of the British government in supporting those SMEs so they can cooperate with Qatari businessmen and work in the Qatari market.
Sheikh Faisal also pointed out the importance of the United Kingdom to Qataris in general and businessmen in particular, as England is their first investment destination, especially in the real estate sector, in addition to Qatari students choosing the United Kingdom to study, in addition to Qataris considering England their first touristic destination as well. For his part, Sir Edward emphasized that the British government is currently developing new legislation and re-enacting many laws, especially those that were related to the European Union, to facilitate many procedures and create more flexibility for cooperation.
At the end of the meeting, Sheikh Faisal and QBA Board members expressed their happiness with this meeting, stressing their keenness to visit England soon and supporting all efforts made to increase cooperation between the two countries.