QBA hosts banquet in honour of US official Sunday, 13 June 2010 04:55

DOHA: The Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA) hosted a working lunch in honour of the Under Secretary for International Trade at the US Department of Commerce, Francisco J Sanchez and his delegation on Thursday.

Present at the function from the Qatari side were QBA Chairman, Sheikh Faisal bin Qassem Al Thani, QBA Second Deputy Chairman, Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani Al Thani and other board members of the association.

The US delegation consisted of representatives from 15 firms in the field of healthcare, wastewater management and water treatment and specialising in hospital equipment, healthcare technology, engineering and construction of hospitals as well as wastewater treatment plants.

The QBA representatives and the US delegation held discussions in which they explored opportunities for cooperation between businessmen from the two countries.

In his address, Sanchez briefed the gathering on the US trade mission’s visit to Qatar which he said focused on introducing his delegation to the Qatari market so that they could explore opportunities for partnerships.

Sanchez stressed the importance of the Qatari market for American investors given that it represent one of the largest shares of US investments overseas.

He added that US exports to Qatar has witnessed a tremendous surge in the last few years which, he said, underscores the strong trade partnership between the two countries.

Sheikh Faisal emphasised the need to benefit from the growing commercial relations between the two countries in order to step up cooperation and interaction between the business communities and the private sectors both in Qatar and the US. He added that the volume of trade between the two countries grew by 340 percent to $3.2bn, up from $840m from 2003 to 2008.

He briefed on the role of the QBA in facilitating links between the business communities in the two countries and expressed QBA’s readiness to cooperate with investment promotion institutions and other private sector institutions in the US in order to boost further commercial exchange between the two countries, noting that the incentives being provided by the State of Qatar encourage investments.

Sanchez invited the Chairman of QBA and its members to visit the US to get acquainted with investment opportunities and explore ways for cooperation between the business communities in the two countries.

Later he told reporters that this was his first visit to Qatar since he assumed his post as Under Secretary for International Trade three months ago and that boosting commercial relations between Qatar and the US was very important for him.

He also said that the US had much to offer to Qatar in speeding up the building of its infrastructure and strengthening of its economy.

“We believe in building partnership and strengthening commercial relations between the two countries and our two-day visit to Qatar goes this direction,” he said.

Sanchez praised Qatar’s plan to invest some $250bn in the next 10 years to develop its healthcare infrastructure, road networks and water distribution services.

He added that there are many investment opportunities in the US market for Qatari investors and “we also encourage US firms to invest in the Qatari market,” he said.

Sheikh Faisal told reporters that the Qatari business community and institutions are keen to develop cooperation with foreign countries and pointed out that the visit of the US trade mission was very important.

The Peninsula

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