Meeting with Chinese Delegation
The Qatari Businessmen Association welcomed a highly distinguished business delegation from the Republic of China at QBA office, on Thursday November 28th, 2013.
The Qatari side was headed by H.E Shk. Faisal Bin Qassim Al-Thani chairman of QBA, and attended by Mr. Hussain Al-Fardan, first deputy chairman, Mr. Issa Abdulsalam Abu Issa, secretary general, H.E Shk. Hamad Bin Faisal Al-Thani Board Member and Mr. Maqbool Habeeb Khalfan QBA member.
The Chinese delegation was headed by Mrs. Hongmang Wang, Vice President of the United World Chinese Association, and included the following businessmen:
Mr. Guohang Tang, Vice Chairman - United World Chinese Association, Mr. Kai Fu Tian, Grandnephew of his Excellency the President of China, Mr. Xi Jinping, Mr. Liang Houshang, Vice President of CECEP-China Energy Conservation & Environmental Protection Agency, and Mr. Xingxing Li, Vice Chairman of Foton/Daimler.
QBA members welcomed Mrs. Hongmang Wang and her accompanying delegation in this visit which aims at discussing ways of cooperation between the Qatari businessmen and their counterparts in china, and expressed the importance of supporting and developing the bilateral relations between the two countries. QBA members has also stressed on their interest in cooperating with the Chinese companies to benefit from their expertise, and the investment opportunities available in China to create new projects in various sectors.
Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al-Thani noted that the Qatari businessmen are well aware of the advantages of the Chinese economy, which considered the second largest global economy, and one of the largest industrialized nations, in addition to that the Chinese companies enjoys a good reputation as a highly experienced companies in the industrial filed, and their accuracy in doing business, and the fast and sustainable growth of the Chinese economy.
Mr. Kai Fu Tian expressed his pleasure to hold this meeting with the Qatari businessmen, and thanked QBA members for the warm welcome, he also confirmed that the business community in China are interested in exploring different business and investment opportunities in Doha, and exchange experiences with their counterparts in Qatar.
While Mrs. Hongmang Wang noted that the interest of the Chinese businessmen in Qatar's economy stems from the variety of investment opportunities available In Qatar, and its ability to develop regardless of the economic crisis that hit many countries around the world, and stressed on the willingness of the Chinese companies to take some of the projects which will be held in Doha in preparation to host the 2022 World Cup as China has considerable experience in this area , were it hosted the Olympic Games in 2008.
At the end of the meeting Mr. Kai Fu Tian thanked the members for the warm welcome, and invited them to visit China to learn more about the investment environment, he also stressed on his country's desire to strengthen commercial and investment relations with Qatar, in light of its success in developing a model that achieved the highest growth around the globe.
It is worth noting that the State of Qatar and China have signed several agreements to facilitate trade between the two countries and the most important one is in the aviation sector where there is a direct flight from Doha to six Chinese cities, and the trade volume between Qatar and China has reached 8.45 billion dollars in 2012, were China imports oil and gas from Qatar , while mainly export many goods such as building materials , electrical products, furniture and household items.
There is also many Chinese companies operates in Doha, such as China Harbour Engineering Co (CHEC) which has signed an $879m contract in 2011 for the construction of the first phase of Qatar’s New Doha Port, and Qatar Investment authority has bought 22% stake in China's CITIC Capital in 2012.