US delegation informed on measures of overcoming blockade

DOHA:  Qatar Chamber (QC) has highlighted in front of US delegation from Johns Hopkins University the economic measures taken by Qatar to overcome the siege and how it turned its repercussions into advantages.

A presentation titled (How Qatar Invested the Siege and Turned Its Repercussions Into Gains) was delivered by the Research and Studies Department, shedding light on the procedures adopted by the country to face the siege.

According to the presentation, these steps included the launch of direct shipping lines between Hamad Port and number of ports in and outside the region, encouraging and motivating the local industry, and supporting the national products, and obliging ministries and government agencies to purchase local products by 100 percent as well as reformulating the food security strategy.

The presentation highlighted the positive gains of the siege including the dependence on local products in the local market from 5 percent before siege to 30 percent before, the establishment of 164 agricultural companies in the market, while there are a 22 percent growth in the number of new companies.

It also reviewed the efforts of Qatar Chamber during the siege as a representative of the private sector, and outlined the measures taken in co-ordination and co-operation with the competent authorities in the State to face the consequences of the siege, where the Chamber worked with importers of food and building materials to find new alternatives and overcome all the obstacles facing companies operating in this sector in order to ensure continuity of flow of those goods to the State.

It added that Qatar Chamber has benefited from the relations that it has with many of its counterparts in many friendly countries, and opened new markets for the Qatari product and launched several initiatives to support the national product by urging the commercial complexes to display the national products prominently, or through exhibitions that support local product.