Qatar Chamber has signed a cooperation agreement with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) at the opening rites of the ‘2nd SMEs Conference’ held at the Ritz-Carlton Doha yesterday.
The agreement, signed by Qatar Chamber chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani and TOBB president M Rifat Hisarc?kl?oglu, aims to strengthen cooperation between the two agencies, develop its small and medium-sized enterprise sector, and facilitate exchange of best practices in the SME industry.
During the event, Sheikh Khalifa announced that the chamber is planning to organise a training programme on innovation for young entrepreneurs to help them maximise the use of digital technology in producing innovative and creative products.
Sheikh Khalifa also underscored the importance of the training programme on the development of Qatar’s SMEs.
“We are here to achieve these goals within the framework of the Qatar National Vision 2030. We will have exchange of information on various issues, service provision or technology, and we will try to find solutions to various problems, be it on financing, entrepreneurship, and supporting young entrepreneurs. We are taking significant steps.
“Our goal here is to come up with innovative ideas for SMEs because they play a very important role in this respect. All these initiatives will open the doors to young and creative entrepreneurs,” Sheikh Khalifa said in the presence of HE the deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Mahmoud.
He said the conference aims to promote entrepreneurship, stimulate services for SMEs, support diversification, and create employment opportunities for the national workforce. The two-day event, he also said, focuses on Turkey and will enable participants to discuss access to the following opportunities for SMEs: Markets, finance, and innovation.
“We are open to all innovative and creative approaches. Qatar has taken significant steps towards the realisation of various projects and increasing local production. Our government has taken various initiatives and it is also very important that SMEs produce a diversity of products,” he said.
Speaking on the cooperation agreement, Hisarc?kl?oglu said, “We believe this step will contribute further to our relations and I wish it will be fruitful for every one of us…bigger collaboration will be achieved from now on.”
According to Hisarc?kl?oglu, around 36,000 Qataris visit Turkey annually. Bilateral trade between the two countries currently stands at $15mn, while Qatari investments in Turkey reached more than $1bn.
“Turkish companies have undertaken projects in Qatar worth $14bn. Our businessmen are also making significant investments in Qatar,” he said, adding that Turkey has opened a hospital in Qatar.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the event, al-Mahmoud said the conference comes in the framework of the economic partnership between Qatar and Turkey, and serves a platform for exchanging experiences and expertise between businessmen from the two countries.
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