Future promising for Qatar- Malaysia economic cooperation: Al-Kuwari

The second session of the Qatari-Malaysian Joint Trade Committee was chaired by HE Minister of Commerce and Industry Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari and Datuk Darell Leiking, Malaysia’s Minister of International Trade and Industry, in Kuala Lumpur recently.

The meeting brought together representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Energy, Municipalities and Environment, and Culture and Sports, along with officials from the Qatar Central Bank, Qatar Chamber, Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar Airways, Qatar Civil Aviation Authority, Qatar Investment Promotion Agency, Hassad Food Company, Qatari Diar and Baladna Food Industries.During the meeting, participants discussed cooperation prospects across various sectors of common interest to both countries.In his opening remarks, al-Kuwari said he was pleased to participate in the second session of the Qatari-Malaysian Joint Trade Committee and looked forward to bolstering bilateral cooperation and establishing a comprehensive strategic partnership with Malaysia.Qatar and Malaysia, he said, have long enjoyed friendly relations that were further strengthened since the latest visit by His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Kuala Lumpur in 2018.The future of Qatari-Malaysian cooperation is promising in the light of the economic potential of both countries, which will bolster bilateral trade that reached $291mn in the first half of 2019, al-Kuwari said.He praised Malaysian companies for contributing to strengthening bilateral economic relations, noting that more than 85 Malaysian companies, including 13 fully owned Malaysian firms and 72 jointly owned Qatari-Malaysian companies, are currently operating in Qatar's engineering, construction, oil and gas and information technology sectors.On the other hand, Malaysia represents an attractive destination for Qatari investments in the tourism, hospitality, financial, real estate, and industrial sectors among other vital economic fields, al-Kuwari said, underscoring Qatar’s keenness to invest part of its resources in the economies of its strategic partners.The minister stressed the need to pursue joint efforts at the governmental level to enhance trade and investment, emphasizing in this context the importance of streamlining negotiations to ratify and implement the agreement on the mutual promotion and protection of investments, which will provide a framework for the promotion of joint investments.“We are called upon today to strengthen our efforts to establish and activate the Joint Business Council, adopt effective coordination mechanisms, organize additional economic forums and form joint working groups to develop bilateral relations and hold interactive meetings between Qatari and Malaysian companies to explore and discuss joint cooperation mechanisms including the exchange of investments and expertise in the priority areas of our economies,” al-Kuwari stressed.The minister highlighted Qatar’s success in recent years in implementing major development projects, which has cemented its position as one of the region’s most stable, competitive and growth-oriented economies.Quoting the World Bank’s latest report, he said Qatar’s economy will grow by 3.4% by 2021, driven by higher growth in the services sector as the 2022 FIFA World Cup approaches compared to a constant-price GDP growth rate of 1.43% in 2018 when economic activity recovered from the impact of the illegal and unjust blockade imposed on the country since 2017.