Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani Chairman Qatar Chamber addressing the Qatar-US Business Forum in Miami, the US.
DOHA: Qatar and the US are very keen to provide more incentives and concessions to attract investors and strengthen businessmen’s relations for the advantage of both countries’ economies.
The private sector of both the countries have devoted substantial resources to further support the ongoing robust economic relations, Qatar Chamber (QC) Chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani said in Miami, US.
Addressing the Qatar-US Business Forum, Sheikh Khalifa said Qatar and the US relations have seen great development in all cooperation aspects. They strove to foster their economic ties and remove all obstacles that might face establishing mutual and joint investments.
With regard to the mutual investments, the Qatar Chamber Chairman noted Qatari investments in the US are billions of dollars deployed in technologies, media, entertainment, energy, real estate..etc. City Center DC in Washington is the first Qatari investment in the US real estate sector.
The Qatar Investment Authority is interested in increasing Qatari investments in the years ahead. Further, there are many private investments for Qatari investors here. There are many Qatari investments in hospitality in Miami.
On the other hand, there are more than 400 American companies operating in Qatar. The number of companies that were owned 100 percent by Americans was around 112 companies, while there are 290 companies with Qatari partners. The total capital of these companies is about $2.5bn.
Sheikh Khalifa said the ongoing siege imposed on Qatar since last year has significantly motivated the private sector to enhance its contribution in productive projects in numerous economic sectors which helped to reduce reliance on imports.
In the wake of the siege, the government has adopted a multitude of policies and procedures.It has sought to issue new laws and introduce key amendments to several existing legislation in order to attract and promote local and foreign investments.
These policies helped increase competitiveness of the national economy and helped in attracting more investments to Qatar.
Therefore, American businessmen are highly welcomed to enter into the Qatari market, particularly that economic laws allow full ownership for foreign investors at specific sectors. These incentives also include the exemption of income tax in specific sectors and exemption of custom on importing raw materials and equipment.
Qatar has recently established four new logistic zones which reduced storage fees and supported supply chains. It is also working on establishing free zones which will provide more direct foreign investment opportunities.
According to the latest World Bank reports, Qatar real GDP growth rose to 2percent in 2017, and it is expected to rise to 2.6 percent in 2018.
This emphasises that Qatar economy is growing rapidly despite the siege and confirmed the economy’s flexibility and showed that it was siege-proof. This also affirmed that economic legislations have attracted more investments and international companies to the Qatari market.
