QBA organizes more than 50 sectoral meetings in cooperation with the Turkish Foreign Economic Relations Association DEIK
Within the initiative of the Qatari Businessmen Association to conduct sectoral meetings to provide a communication platform between Qatari businessmen and their counterparts around the world in light of the current crisis and its impact on the economic environment, the Qatari Businessmen Association organized today virtual specialized sectoral meetings in coordination with the Foreign Economic Relations Association of Turkey DEIK and as agreed upon during the last meeting of the Turkish-Qatari joint business council last April,
It was agreed to start the Sectoral meetings with the health, medicine and food industries sectors due to their great economic importance, especially in light of the current crisis, and more than 50 bilateral meetings were organized between the Qatari companies and their counterparts from Turkey with the participation of Qatar Free Zones Authority in the State of Qatar, which comes as an activation of the MOU that was signed with QBA last February, and which stated the provision of incentives and services to the local and foreign investors in order to enhance investment and support the economic development of the country.
Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, QBA chairman headed the meeting from the Qatari side, with the presence and special participation of H.E. Ahmad bin Mohammed Al-Sayed, Minister of State and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qatar Free Zones Authority. H.E. Mr. Mansour Al-Sulaitin, the Consul General of the State of Qatar in Istanbul also attended the meeting.
From the Turkish side, the meeting was chaired by Mr. Bashar Orglu, President of Turkey Qatar Business Council and Mr. Nael Olbak, Chairman of the Foreign Economic Relations Association of Turkey DEIK and in the presence of Mr. Mustafa Gokzo
From QBA, the meeting was also attended by Mr. Hussein Al Fardan, QBA First Deputy, Dr. Sheikh Khalid bin Thani Al Thani, QBA Second Deputy, also from QBA Board members Mr. Saud al Mana. From QBA Members, Mr. Khaled al Mannai, Mr. Nabila Abu Issa, Sheikh Faisal Bin Fahad, Mr. Abdulsalam Abu Issa, Mr. Abdullah Al Kubaisi, Mr. Ihsan al Khiyami, all attended the meeting as well as Ms. Sarah Abdallah, QBA Deputy GM.
Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani started the meeting by welcoming all the participants, emphasizing the importance that the Qatari private sector is giving to the health, medicine and food industries sectors, especially in light of the current crisis, and the efforts done through these meetings to build bridges of cooperation and benefit From the scientific and practical experiences of businessmen in both countries, with the aim of strengthening economic cooperation and opening new horizons and opportunities for businessmen and companies
He also thanked the Association for Foreign Economic Relations of Turkey DEIK for the cooperation in organizing this meeting, in which nearly 40 Qatari companies participated, with a total of 55 bilateral meetings to discuss specific cooperation and investment opportunities. QBA Chairman reviewed the strength of opportunities in Qatar and the many incentives provided by the state to encourage investment, from advanced infrastructure and a favorable legislative structure and other facilities, to the most important of which is the existence of a free zone in Qatar with global standards.
Sheikh Faisal also added that these factors, in addition to the experience of the Qatari companies with their international competitiveness, are the drive which would qualify the two parties to launch successful projects and partnerships that are not limited to the common concept of import and export, but also to deeper and more important prospects, such as major investment and industrial projects.
for his side, Mr. Nael Olbak gave a welcome speech saying, "The history of mankind is on the brink of unprecedented change due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and its effects, the world and many elements in our lives will not be the same; different and new economic, trade and political relations will be established and therefore we must work Together to develop and develop our relationship commensurate with our ambition "
It is worth noting that the participation of the Qatar Free Zones Authority in the meeting comes as an affirmation of support for the continuous efforts made by the two parties to attract investors from the world to invest in the State of Qatar, and support the achievement of economic diversification, which was agreed upon in the MOU signed last February between QBA and QFZA which stipulated the need to exchange and share information and cooperation in joint activities to encourage foreign investment in Qatar. Accordingly, His Excellency Mr. Ahmad bin Mohammed Al-Sayed, Minister of State and Chairman of the Free Zones Authority stated in his speech during the meeting that this meeting allows us to engage with our dear brothers from Turkey, and to identify opportunities available through the comprehensive strategic partnership between our two countries.
His excellency talked about the quality of the infrastructure of the Qatar Free Zones which has now become home to some of the world’s leading companies like Google, Thales, DHL, and Microsoft. He also added “With God’s will, the free zones have succeeded to establish a genuinely unique and integrated investment ecosystem, As the free zones in Qatar will form an advanced platform to link Turkish products to global markets, especially Asian and South African, better than anywhere else in the region”
In his note, Mr. Al Sayed also spoke about the current crisis of the pandemic, and how it has demonstrated the necessity of diversification which brings strength and resilience in these challenging times for the world. Continuing H.E. Mr. Al-Sayed said “We are particularly focused on strengthening key strategic industries and we are keen to bring in Turkish companies from the agri-tech and pharmaceutical sectors to work with our national partners so we may grow together”
H.E. also added “I would also like to point out that the bilateral agreements signed between the two brotherly countries will help facilitate the work of Turkish companies in all sectors in Qatar. The State of Qatar and the Turkish Republic are tied to a set of trade agreements that ensure smooth trade traffic between the two countries.”
For his part, Mr. Bashar Uroglu, head of the Turkish Qatari Business Council, welcomed all the attendees, expressing his happiness to organize this meeting between the business community of the two countries, stressing that one of the things that distinguishes this meeting, is identifying and discussing targeted and specific cooperation opportunities between the Qatari and Turkish companies in the health and food industries sectors.
Mr. Hussein Al-Fardan, QBA First deputy expressed the interest of Qatari businessmen in the Turkish market and the great opportunities that exist in it and the distinction of Turkish companies and the quality of their products regionally and globally, stressing that the Qatari private sector has begun to invest in some areas in Turkey and has working groups Looking and exploring new opportunities.
Sheikh Khalid bin Thani Al Thani, QBA Second Deputy, pointed out the importance of continuing to hold this series of specialized sectoral meetings between the private sector companies in the two countries to include all vital economic sectors such as banking, construction and contracting sectors and others through which we can Discuss more cooperation opportunities in detail.
In a speech of His Excellency Mr. Mansour Al-Sulaitin, Consul General of the State of Qatar in Turkey, he talked about the broad economic cooperation framework that Qatar is witnessing with the sister Turkish Republic, with a constant aspiration to increase the pace of this cooperation and to raise the level of commercial relations between the two countries so that it includes more sectors such as tourism, industry, health and education. it is worth noting that the rate of investment for Qatari businessmen in Turkey is approximately 70% before the spread of the pandemic and which led to a slowdown.
At the end of the general session, the attendees and representatives of the Qatari and Turkish companies started the bilateral meetings that lasted about 5 consecutive hours