Qatar’s pavilion is a major attraction at the Hanover International Industrial Fair 2018 in Germany.
The workshop, presented by Abdulbasit al-Aji, director of the MEC’s Business Development and Investment Promotion Department, stressed the main features that make Qatar an attractive investment destination, in addition to the incentives and legislation adopted by the country to support the private sector and aimed at increasing foreign direct investment and attracting more German companies to the Qatari market.
The official pointed out Qatar’s gas and oil reserves, its distinguished transportation network and sophisticated business environment in addition to the strategic location of the country have made it an investment-friendly destination.
The workshop also focused on the business environment indicators as Qatar was ranked first in the Global Competitiveness Report 2017-2018 in providing a safe business environment, second in taxation, third in government purchases of sophisticated technology and fifth in the availability of capital for investment.
The workshop stressed that Qatar provides business and investment opportunities in various sectors as a number of land plots were allocated to the education and health services sectors; two free industrial zones of 35mn sqm were also allocated along with a number of logistic areas, besides new projects for waste and sewage management.
Other areas of focus at the workshop included the incentives and facilitation offered by the country to the local and foreign private sector companies. Foreign investors can have up to 100% ownership in various sectors and income tax exemption up to ten years for certain projects, besides customs fee exemptions on imported equipment and raw materials.
In the meantime, the participants in the Qatar pavilion at the Hanover Fair have expressed their happiness at being part of such a specialised global exhibition. They pointed out that the Qatar pavilion stood out due to the participation of high profile entities that reflect the economic power of the country and its encouraging business environment. They further stressed that the fair is a good opportunity for Qatari companies to promote their products and open new markets around the world, besides the exchange of experience with the international companies in similar fields.
