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Qatar and Singapore trade volume has reached $8bn last year, a slight increase of 2% compared with the $7.8bn total volume in 2012, ambassador Wong Kwok Pun said yesterday. |
“Our bilateral trade with Qatar is very strong,” he noted during the Singapore Tourism Board press conference yesterday.
Citing investments, Pun told reporters that Qatar owns the iconic Raffles Hotel in Singapore while Ooredoo and Qatar Petroleum International have investments in the Southeast Asian country.
The ambassador said QNB and Doha Bank have branches in his country and there is a lot of interest in the real estate development from Qatar.
“The potential for growth is immense because as you can see Singapore is also a business hub for the Asian region,” he said.
Besides tourism, Pun cited Singapore’s transparent and open legal framework where various foreign companies could easily register and put up business. This included a number of free trade agreements such as comprehensive economic co-operation agreements with other countries like India, China, Asean, the United States, the GCC, and the European Union.
“These agreements provide easy access to these markets. All these connectivity help companies to put up business with ease,” he pointed out.
About investments in Qatar, Pun said that one of Singapore’s largest companies, Keppel Group, has built the Domestic Solid Waste Management Centre in the
country in 2011.
Using an advanced technology, the recycling plant in Mesaeeid can treat solid waste for the whole of Qatar.
“All the waste from offices and homes in Qatar go to this facility,” said Pun.
Kenny Tan, first secretary at the embassy, said the plant is the first integrated waste management facility in the Middle East and features one of the largest composting plants in the world.
Keppel will operate and maintain the plant for 20 years. It is comprised of a state-of-the-art waste sorting and recycling facility, an engineered landfill, a composting plant, and a 1,500-tonne per day capacity waste-to-energy incineration plant. The plant also exports 35MW of its total output of 50MW power to Qatar’s national grid. The waste materials which cannot be recycled are incinerated to turn it into ashes while producing electricity.
About 95% of the waste it receives is diverted from landfill.
Tan added that about 500 Singaporeans, mostly professional, are employed in many Qatar companies such as gas and oil and aviation.