Lagos: The Qatar-Nigeria Economic Forum kicked off Saturday in Lagos, the economic capital of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in the presence of senior officials, heads of chambers and representatives of the private sectors in both countries.
Qatars organization of the Forum aims to bring together major manufacturers from Qatar and their counterparts in Nigeria, to further deepen the bilateral relations based on the directives of the leaderships of the two friendly countries to establish an economic bridge between Qatar and Nigeria. The Forum aims to enhance the economic cooperation and review business opportunities between the two countries.
In an opening speech, Governor of Lagos State H E Babajide Sanwo-Olu expressed his admiration for the progress made by the State of Qatar in the industrial field, stressing that Nigeria will benefit from the various Qatari industries that were reviewed during the forum.
He added that Qatar is one of the richest countries in the world, and it is good to benefit from its experience in achieving all these great accomplishments, because Nigeria is also an emerging economy, and will look for ways for fruitful cooperation between the two countries.
The Governor of Lagos underlined that Lagos will benefit greatly from the commercial discussions between Qatari manufacturers and their Nigerian counterparts to exchange ideas on ways to enhance the economic cooperation.
For his part, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Nigeria H E Dr. Ali bin Ghanim Al Hajri said that the Forum saw a strong interaction between the Qatari delegation and the Nigerian parties participating in the deliberations, which provided an opportunity to open new horizons for dialogue, consultation, exchange views on a number of commercial issues of common interest, and renew the commitment to deepen trade between the two countries, especially in the fields of manufacturing, construction, oil and gas and technology.
The Ambassador referred to the Nigerian government's request in 2021 to cooperate with the State of Qatar in the field of gas development in order to enhance investment in the energy and gas industries, which provided the opportunity for Qatar Development Bank to expand its presence in Nigeria through partnerships in various sectors, such as building materials, construction, building chemicals, health and medical fields, oil and gas products, plastics, packaging and ICT service areas.
The events organized by the State of Qatar, represented by Qatar Development Bank, in Lagos and the capital Abuja, aim to lay the foundation for a strong economic cooperation between the two countries, and to enable investors to meet and interact with high-level policy makers in the federal government and leaders of the business community in Nigeria in order to increase cooperation in the fields of agriculture, oil and gas, mining and infrastructure development.
