Officials during the Qatar-Germany Business and Investment Forum in Berlin
BERLIN: Qatar’s strategic repositioning in terms of trade and investments have helped the country move ahead despite the unprecedented blockade imposed on it by some neighbouring countries, H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani, Minister of Economy and Commerce, and H E Ali Sheriff Al Emadi, Minister of Finance said in a two separate panel discussions held during the Qatar-Germany Business and Investment Forum here yesterday.
Sheikh Ahmed said the country realised there is huge untapped potential in the neighbouring countries and identified fresh destinations. Qatar realised it has access to 400 million population around and identified the under tapped markets in five destinations including Turkey, Pakistan, India, and Iran.
The Minister said Qatari economy grew at significant rate during the blockade period. “Despite the lower oil price in 2016-2017, we met our 2017 target. Our total export increased many times during the blockade period.
During the blockade year all the economic indicators were positive for Qatar. The inflation rate was significantly low at 0.5 percent compared to 2.5 percent in 2016. International agencies projected Qatar’s growth will be the highest in the region at 2.8 percent before expanding to 3 percent in 2019-2020.
The blockade also helped accelerate Qatar’s development plan. The country realised that it really wanted to transform and accelerate its economy. Qatar opened up the market 100 percent for foreign investors, the development of tax-haven economic free zones are fast progressing, PPP is offering huge opportunities to the private players in health, education and tourism sectors.
“Qatar is very well connected to the region and internationally, after the blockade. We wanted showcase these vast opportunities to the German private sector and others in Qatar”, Sheikh Ahmed said.
Elaborating on the legislative and legal frameworks that Qatar has adopted to stimulate investments, the Minister said a significant number of laws and regulations have been revised to keep abreast of political and economic developments in the region, as well as to meet the requirements of the Qatar National Vision 2030 and to encourage domestic and foreign investments.
“For instance, Foreign Investment Law No. 13 of 2000, enables foreign investors up to 100 percent ownership in numerous economic sectors,” the Minister said, stressing that a new law will streamline investment procedures in light of the many promising investment opportunities in the logistics, food security, education, health, tourism and sports sectors.
H E Ali shareef Al Emadi, Minister of Finance, said since the since the blockade imposed on Qatar in June 2017, all the key financial and economic indicators for Qatar were positive. “If you look at the performance of Qatari economy in 2018, the GDP has grown, banking profitability is up. N the post blockade period, Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) grew by 15 percent, he said.
Participating in the panel discussion QDC CEO Yousef Mohamed Al Jaida said QFC’s mandate of attracting increasing foreign direct investment is a natural starting point for further cooperation with German firms looking to gain entry into the growing Qatar economy.
He said Qatar and Germany have a far reaching relationship that provides a great foundation for future growth. Partnering with German businesses has continued to flourish over the years, with 112 joint Qatar-German businesses with a capital of $339m. These are but a few examples of the long-standing dynamic economic relationship that exists between Doha and Berlin.
