(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
Commercial Bank Group CEO Joseph Abraham has said there are huge untapped opportunities available for Asean exports in Qatar.
Delivering a key note address at the ASEAN seminar on ‘trade and investment' in Doha, Abraham said that for every dollar of Qatari exports to Asean, Qatar only imports 23 cents of goods, and this trade ratio of almost 1:4 represented an untapped opportunity for Asean nations.
The first-ever Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) seminar was organised to provide a window to the economic and investment potentials of the seven member countries and enhance business relations with Qatar.
The seminar was held as part of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Asean. The seven Asean members including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei promoting their business, food and culture were present during the celebrations.
Abraham noted the existing strong links between Qatar and the Asean nations. With Asean being one of Qatar's largest trading partners, Qatari exports stood over $8.2bn in 2016,. There is a sizeable Asean expatriate populations in Qatar and a large number of Qatari investments such as the Nebras gas-fired power plant in Indonesia. Qatar's Hamad International Airport and Hamad Port offer an excellent connectivity with Asean region, he said.
Abraham stated that the economic blockade has boosted the growth potential for key Asean exports to Qatar including Halal food, agricultural, paper and construction products, together with electrical goods. The Asean couuntries also has highly developed service sectors that can offer a lot to Qatar. Singapore and Malaysia have top-ranking universities, providing an alternative to Qataris travelling to Europe or the US for further study.
Malaysia and Thailand are among Qatar's favourite tourism destinations, and Singapore's healthcare is recognised as one of the best in the world in catering for health tourists.
Singapore is also home to three of the world's one hundred largest architecture firms. On Qatar's journey towards economic diversification, Abraham pointed out that there are a wide range of opportunities for Asean countries to participate in Qatar's private sector under the National Development Strategy 2017-2022, with government-led incentives to invest and billions of dollars earmarked for projects in education, health, logistics, industry, sports, food and tourism, as well as construction.
Abraham said that the potential increase in Asean exports to Qatar could be realized through raising awareness, and he encouraged active engagement between the Qatari and ASEAN business communities though targeted
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