(MENAFN- The Peninsula) He Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Al Thani, Minister of Economy and Commerce stated yesterday that Qatar is an open market and the country's market is open to investors of all areas of economic activities and investments.
Launching the Qatar-UAE Economic Forum jointly with his UAE counterpart Eng Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Sheikh Ahmed said that Qatar and UAE have always maintained a strong relation in bilateral trade. The integration of GCC common market has helped bolster the bilateral trade.
UAE is Qatar's fifth largest trade partner, the Minister said. More than 90 companies that operate in Qatar are fully owned by UAE citizens, while 988 more have a joint Qatari-Emirati ownership.
The launch of this forum reflects the keenness to improve Qatar-UAE relations in the economic and trade fields. It also underscores the depth of bilateral relations under the leadership of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and President of UAE H H Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the minister added.
Addressing the Forum, the UAE Economy Minister Al Mansoori said that the forum reflects the sincere desire to develop economic and trade relations between the two countries, pointing that the Qatar-UAE trade volume increased by 200 percent during the past few years.
The Emirati minister praised the development of Qatari Economy which is expected to see five to seven percent growth in the coming years. However, he warned that significant challenges in the region's economies require hard work to overcome with regard to maintaining the successes, especially in the air transport and aviation sectors.
The most important upcoming events in the region will be the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Doha and the 2020 Expo in Dubai. These two events provide significant opportunities for businessmen from the two countries, he said calling on the corporates in both sides to cooperate and establish joint ventures to benefit from these opportunities.
A large number of Qatari and Emirati businessmen took part in the forum . They discussed the opportunities available to enhance bilateral cooperation and increase the volume of bilateral trade.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, Chairman, Qatar Chamber (QC) described the Forum an opportunity to discuss many issues between the chambers of commerce of the two countries that would help agree on strategic joint action and to seize business opportunities in both the countries.
UAE's Ambassador to Qatar Saleh Mohammed bin Nasrah Alamri said that his country was keen on supporting Qatar National Vision 2030, since it was a clear roadmap for the future in Qatar.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the forum, QNA reported.
The UAE ambassador said that the visit of the UAE delegation was to view all aspects of the Qatar's economic and cultural resurgence; and investment opportunities available.
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