By Ayman Adly/Staff Reporter


Qatar is full of investment opportunities and they are open for Palestinian companies to take part individually or through partnerships with local companies,  Qatar Chamber (QC) board member Ahmed al-Meer has said.
He was addressing a meeting of the Palestinian Business Forum (PBF) on Wednesday night in Doha. Al-Meer pointed out that QC is ready to provide all necessary support and information regarding the would-be projects to enable Palestinian companies to take part in implementing them.
The PBF meeting was held in co-operation with QC adopting the topic “Qatari economy and investment opportunities in Qatar in the upcoming phase”. Al-Meer explained that the meeting could be a platform for open talks and discussions on the available investment opportunities in Qatar, especially those related to World Fifa Cup 2022 projects, and attaining Qatar vision 2030.
He said that investment in Qatar has become solid over the years, especially when new economic legislations were adopted that made the process of initiating and conducting business in the country clear and hassle-free. In the meantime, Qatar enjoys a huge potential for investment with its rich resources and open policies.  
He further expressed his appreciation for the achievements of the Palestinian community in Qatar throughout the years and their services to the local society, stressing that relations between the two peoples are friendly and deep rooted.
“Qatar has given the Palestinian cause more support than any other country and it has always supported the Palestinian people,” said Mohamed Ghazal, CEO of PBF.
He said that the number of expatriate Palestinians around the world surpasses the official statistics, which limit it to 11mn persons, but it reaches around 25mn persons living outside Palestine in different countries around the world.  
Ghazal pointed out that the creation of PBF in 2008 in London came out of the pressing need to form a collective entity to gather the expatriate Palestinian business community into a single and solid forum to develop its affairs.
He said that PBF had active co-operation with The Islamic Development Bank, the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation and other world organisations and economic bodies.
It has also relations with businessmen entities in more than 20 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin and North America.
“We aim at encouraging investment in the Palestinian territories, where there are great numbers of unemployed and  qualified  young people. We want to give these people real job opportunities. Further, we want to introduce the investment opportunities in Palestine in construction, health and real estate to Palestinian and world businessmen. We aim at convincing them that there are real profitable projects there,” he said.  
Dr Abdulrahim Ali, member of PBF and an economic expert based in Qatar, said that Qatar is among the leading countries in the world that attracts investments in general and foreign investment in particular. Besides, the strong local economic atmosphere highly encourages foreign investors to conduct business in the country. In the meantime, Qatar has been very successful in its efforts to diversify its economy and sources of income.
However, businessmen have to be careful regarding the timing to enter into business and which economic sector to enter. They should also study alternatives and compare them accordingly to select the best that suits them, he added.