Doha: Business leaders and others are applauding the success of the recent Australia Qatar Business Council (AQBC) Mission to Qatar and is already being heralded as a reinvigoration of the bilateral relationship.
This is the first such Australian visit since the onset of the COVID pandemic, and the first of four Missions being planned for 2022 by the AQBC.
It also comes at a time when the Ukraine crisis is seeing a recalibration of food supplies internationally and when the challenges of climate change and commercial disruptions globally make the importance of the bilateral relationship even more crucial said the AQBC.
The focus of this mission was on mutual trade and investment in particular in the areas of food security, agribusiness and health AQBC President Simon Harrison noted that as a result of this mission we have a range of bilateral projects that will be moving forward.
The potential for our partnership is huge Harrison noted and that “together with our Qatari partners we are seeing some high profile initiatives being realised as well as a raft of private joint ventures and business to business connectivity’s”.
Rating agency S&P Global has affirmed Australia’s AAA credit rating, citing Australia’s strong economic recovery from the pandemic and track record of sound economic and fiscal management.
Australia itself is one of just nine countries that hold a AAA credit rating from the three major rating agencies. Harrison noted that both countries enjoy a stable and economically sound prognosis post Covid and he referenced The Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) January review which noted growth of between 2.8 and 4.7 percent for the rest of 2022. Harrison added that “in over 30 years I have never witnessed this level of mutual co-operation and excitement about what we can achieve, this is a bilateral partnership that means business”.
