The Meeting of the Qatari Businessmen Association with His Excellency Mr. Nicolas Maduro, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

The Qatari Businessmen Association met with His Excellency President Nicolas Maduro, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and his accompanying delegation of Ministers of Tourism, Transport, Agriculture, Science and Technology, during their visit to Doha, which aimed at discussing bilateral relations between the two countries in various fields and ways to support them.
From QBA, the meeting was attended by board members Sheikh Nawaf bin Nasser Al Thani and Mr. Saud Al Mana, and from QBA members Sheikh Faisal bin Fahd Al Thani, Mr. Nasser Al Haider, Mr. Maqbool Khalfan, Sheikh Muhammad bin Nawaf and Mr. Ihsan Al-Khiyami attended the meeting as well as Mrs. Sarah Abdullah, QBA Deputy GM.

H.E. President Nicolas Maduro, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, thanked QBA members for this meeting, and stressed out that this visit aims at developing prospects for joint cooperation and develop it to broader horizons that serve the common interests of the two countries, especially in the energy, economy and agriculture sectors. The President also spoke during the meeting about the cooperation opportunities in tourism and the potential investment opportunities. H.E. also praised the economic prosperity in the State of Qatar, which he visited more than once and intends to visit it every year.

During the meeting, His Excellency the President spoke about Venezuela and that it enjoys many attractive insentives for investment, in which it needs the support of the State of Qatar. He indicated that there are 18 engines of national development in Venezuela, including agriculture, industry, gas and oil, tourism and telecommunications, etc. He stressed that his government has established Strategies to develop these engines and improve the production wheel, noting that the country is working on developing an advanced legal framework in order to meet all potential challenges.
For his part, Sheikh Nawaf bin Nasser Al Thani, QBA board member welcomed the president and his accompanying delegation, stressing out the importance of relations between Qatar and Venezuela, which began since the seventies, and pointed out the importance of the visit in discussing ways of cooperation between the two countries, and working to revitalize economic and trade relations. He also indicated the interest of Qatari businessmen to learn about the investment opportunities available in Venezuela.

During the meeting, QBA members spoke about the keenness of the State of Qatar to develop its relations with all countries, and the two sides discussed the current economic situation and the state's tendency towards self-sufficiency in various vital sectors, which Venezuela is working and planning also, stressing the possibility of partnership in light of the investment incentives provided by the State of Qatar For the foreign investor, as well as what Venezuela is working on to attract FDI as His Excellency the President mentioned that in the coming days a special law for free economic zones will be issued, in addition to referring to the expected growth rates for the next year, which range from 10-15%