Sheikh Ali Alwaleed Al Thani, Chief Executive Officer, IPA Qatar and Pascal Cagni, Chairman of the board of Business France during the agreement signing ceremony.
Doha: The Investment Promotion Agency Qatar (IPA Qatar) and Business France jointly announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) yesterday. The agreement will facilitate the expansion of Business France’s office in Qatar and aims to strengthen relations and boost cooperation between the two parties by setting the foundation for institutional collaboration.
The agreement, which follows a letter of intent signed in February 2020, underlines the two entities’ commitment to further broaden their partnership and facilitate the exchange of professional expertise, market information and research with regards to foreign direct investment promotion and attraction. Additionally, the MoU will entail joint business initiatives in marketing, investors facilitation and retention, and policy analyses, among other areas.
The ceremony was attended by Sheikh Ali Alwaleed Al Thani, Chief Executive Officer, IPA Qatar and Pascal Cagni, Chairman of the board of Business France.
Commenting on the new partnership, Sheikh Ali Alwaleed Al Thani, said: “We are pleased to sign this landmark agreement with Business France, which contributes to further strengthening the bilateral relations between Qatar and France. I am confident that this partnership will be another pivotal step towards increasing the presence of French businesses in Qatar, which currently count for more than 400 companies, operating across a wide range of industries. Equally significant, this agreement complements our efforts in fostering innovation and technology in our business environment, in addition to nurturing high-skilled talent and supporting the exchange of expertise and knowledge.”
Marie-Cécile Tardieu, COO of Business France, said: “With this agreement, Business France and IPA Qatar are deepening their constructive collaboration in a peer-to-peer spirit and mutual benefit. It reflects the strong and shared willingness to engage in an ambitious programme of cooperation through experience and intelligence sharing between the two agencies.”
Backed by its investment in a vibrant knowledge based economy, Qatar is rapidly transforming into a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship, where a promising outlook builds on a strong economic foundation and creates a wealth of opportunities for investors. With immense investments into developing state-of-the-art educational infrastructure, research programmes and business excellence, Qatar proudly is home to a higher innovation capability, and a true destination for the world’s best and brightest talent.
Thanks to its open economy and investor-friendly climate, international companies can become part of a knowledge-based economy, where they can cultivate their people with world-class education, training, and research. Equally significant, this conducive environment paves the way for strategic collaboration between renowned organisations, such as Business France.
The French Agency, which is positioned as a powerful platform to speed up the growth of high-potential French startups harboring international ambitions, supports 10,000 SMEs and mid-size companies every year through its various solutions. Business France has 150 investment advisors, in addition to 1,500 personnel, both in France and in 70 countries throughout the world, who work with a network of public- and private-sector partners.
