Doha: Qatar and Turkey enjoy strong and flourishing economic relations. The two-way trade grew by 85 percent from $1.3bn in 2017 to $ 2.4bn last year, stated Qatar Chamber’s First Vice Chairman Mohamed bin Ahmed bin Twar.
Addressing the Qatar-Turkey Economic Forum in Turkey, Twar said that there many mutual investments in both countries, pointing out that there are more than 450 Turkish companies operating in the Qatari market with Qatari partners in sectors of trading, contracting, furniture services, hospitality and tourism.
“There are about 13 Turkish companies with full ownership working in Qatar in construction and contracting sectors. On the other hand, there are 130 Qatari companies working in Turkey in various sectors. Turkish companies implemented more than 130 projects in Qatar amounted to $15bn,” he added.
Stressing Qatar’s excellence in sports, Twar noted that it has successfully hosted this year three events including the 2019 World Athletics Championships, for the first time in the Arab region and the Middle East, the Inter-regional Sports Integrity Summit, and the World Beach Games.
“This success in organizing mega sports events demonstrated its capability and preparedness to host the largest and most prominent event in the world, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022”, he affirmed, saying that Qatar has accomplished a lot of projects connected to the hosting of the international tournament such as Rail, stadia, Hamad Port and Hamad Airport and many other development projects.
These projects open the door for Turkish companies to participates with Qatari companies in implementing the services needed for these projects, bin Twar pointed out.
In industry sector, Twar said that Qatar has retained the crown of world’s largest exporter of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), noting that it exported 80 million tonnes (MT) last year, enabling it to remain market leader with a share of 25 percent in the global LNG trade.
Qatar also has several raw materials used in many industries and has managed to develop an integrated industrial infrastructure through the new industrial zones, he noted, affirming that this offers the opportunity for establishing new industries with Turkish side, especially that Turkey has a large experience in this vital sector.
It is possible to avail the Turkish expertise in industry by establishing joint ventures in Qatar to be as a hub for these industries locally and globally, he added.
Source from: The Peninsula