Meeting with British Ambassador H.E. Mr. Ajay Sharma

The Qatari Businessmen Association had a meeting with H.E. Ajay Sharma, the British Ambassador to Doha in his first visit since appointed, where the two sides discussed cooperation opportunities and the development of bilateral collaboration in various fields.

The meeting was attended by Sheikh/ Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani, Chairman of the Qatari Businessmen Association, Mr. Hussein Al Fardan, First Deputy Chairman and Sheikh/ Hamad Bin Faisal Bin Thani Al Thani, QBA board member, also Mr. Mohamed Shafiq, Managing Director for Aamal as well as Ms. Sarah Abdullah, QBA Deputy General Manager.

Ambassador Ajay Sharma thanked the members of the Qatari Businessmen Association for the meeting , referring to his aspiration to cooperate and discuss new ideas, especially that the Qatari private sector today is able to reflect the true potential it has and which can be utilized to strengthen the country’s economy, especially with the presence of pro- investment laws, H.E. also added that the United Kingdom welcomes foreign investment from the Qatari private sector as it is keen to establish partnerships both in Qatar and Britain.

For his part, Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani, QBA Chairman welcomed the Ambassador, stressing on the history of bilateral relations between Qatar and the UK especially the economic relations that extends for so long and also the Qatari investments in UK which is one of the successful investments. He also noted the need to focus on the areas of industry and technology besides the existing trade cooperation between the two countries.

In his words, Mr. Hussain Al Fardan, First Deputy Chairman stated that Qatar has set several laws recently to regulate foreign investment in Qatar , and that these laws would attract more British investors, Mr. Hussein also stressed the need for private sector cooperation in both countries and create new partnerships

Sheikh Hamad Bin Faisal Bin Thani , QBA Board member highlighted that Qatar offers many opportunities to attract private investors, with the vision of the state to increase interest in modern industries, which the government is seeking to have it as an alternative industry of oil

At the end of the meeting, the British Ambassador invited QBA members to visit the United Kingdom soon to discuss partnership opportunities and develop ways of cooperation and has the chance to study the modern technologies in the fields of industry and commerce.

It is worth mentioning that the trade exchange between the two countries amounted to about $ 5.3 billion, and that the UK ' is the fourth largest exporter to Qatar, while Qatar Investment Authority is currently investing about 30 billion pounds in the UK, in anticipation of further investments in the future