Qatar and Greece have strengthened their relations further. This was evident when Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, speaking at the opening of the Qatar-Greece Business Forum recently, stressed Qatar’s commitment to invest in Greece, expressing hope of enhancing bilateral cooperation in the future as Qatar continues to diversify its economy in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.
H E the Deputy Prime Minister called on the private sector of the Hellenic Republic to explore the many investment opportunities in Qatar, which will contribute to enhancing economic cooperation and investments between the two countries during the next stage. He said the business and investment environment in Qatar offers great advantages to the foreign companies operating in the country, indicating that Qatar enjoys an advanced position on the business environment indicators according to the World Competitiveness report of the World Economic Forum. H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, during the forum, stressed Qatar has spared no effort in providing the required legislative and institutional environment, developing cooperation between the public and private sectors, providing support to the private sector to increase its role in various economic sectors, and opening up opportunities for local and foreign investments.
Greek Foreign Minister George Katrougalos said that the historic ties between Greece and the Arab World are built on understanding and respect, but maintained that the trade volume with the countries, including the state of Qatar, does not reflect the level of political ties. He called for enhancing bilateral relations between the two countries’ private sector. The Greek Minister said that his country’s economy depends in part on the activities of small and medium enterprises and the economic and social opportunities they provide and noted that the meeting of businessmen from Greece and Qatar represented an important platform to explore opportunities for cooperation.
Qatar Chamber Chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani said that the two countries’ private sector is working on supporting economic ties, with 2018 trade volume standing at $84m. Panagiotis Mihalos, the Chairman of Greece-Qatar Business Council, said the attractive investment climate in Qatar and Greece pave the way towards more cooperation between the private sector businesses of the two economies. He stressed that the Greek-Qatari Business Council will make every effort to increase levels of trade and investment between the two countries.
Qatar and Greece share many strengths, where Qatar strives to diversify its economy with safe and prosperous investments in various sectors around the world and allows foreign investors to 100 percent own companies, which is a good indicator of serious management to create a thriving and open economy. Greece offers opportunities in various fields, including logistics, ports, energy, food production, agriculture, information technology and others. The country has also improved its economic infrastructure and has begun to emerge as a logistics center.
