Officials of the Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA) and the Turkish Foreign Economic Relations Association (DEIK) convened the Qatar-Turkey Business Council in an online meeting yesterday to discuss the current scenario and how to ease the Covid-19 pandemic’s economic impact on both countries.
QBA chairman HE Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al-Thani represented Qatar, while Qatar-Turkey Business Council chairman and DEIK board member Basar Ar?oglu represented Turkey. Also from the Turkish side were DEIK chairman Nail Olpak and Burak Guresci, commercial counsellor of the Turkish embassy in Qatar.
The meeting was also attended by QBA second deputy Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Thani al-Thani; QBA board members Sheikh Nawaf bin Nasser al-Thani and Saud al-Mana; QBA members Khaled al-Mannai, Salah al-Jaidah, Abdullah al-Kubaisi, Maqbool Khalfan, and Ihsan al-Khiyami, as well as QBA deputy general manager Sarah Abdallah.
The meeting is part of the QBA’s efforts to discuss opportunities for economic co-operation with different international institutions during the pandemic, to consolidate ties, and learn more about global best practices and ways to benefit from them. 
The meeting also tackled several proposed solutions to support private sector companies during the health crisis.
During the meeting, Sheikh Faisal stressed the importance of co-operation between economic institutions, private sector companies, and businessmen during the pandemic to overcome its impact, and to support government efforts to improve the local and global economy.
Sheikh Faisal also thanked DEIK for calling the meeting, which, he said, “is an affirmation of the strength of Qatar-Turkey relations.”
Ar?oglu, for his part, said the other participating members represent the following sectors: health, contracting and construction sector, and food and logistics. He also presented government initiatives implemented to reduce the impact of Covid-19 on the Turkish economy, which include the allocation of a $15bn economic package, among others.
Olpak, on the other hand, emphasised the importance of business continuity, stressing that DEIK is regularly holding video conferences to keep its members abreast with the current situation. For his part, Sheikh Nawaf reviewed the QR75bn financial stimulus and economic incentives for the private sector announced by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, among other government initiatives. 
He also discussed the guarantees allocated for local banks under the national guarantee programme launched by Qatar Development Bank (QDB) amounting to QR3bn. This guarantees 100% government financing, with the aim of helping private companies with short-term payments, including salaries and rental dues.
Sheikh Dr Khalid also proposed to conduct a series of “specialised sectoral meetings” between Qatari and Turkish companies and private sector institutions to discuss detailed cooperation opportunities among the banking, food, pharmaceutical, construction, and contracting sectors, among others.
The discussion also revolved on the co-operation in the health sector, and the provision of medicines that could help control the novel coronavirus. The participants also talked about co-operation in ready-made field hospital projects. Other partnership opportunities include the development of dairy, food, and animal products.
Sheikh Faisal concluded the meeting by proposing to convene the next Qatar-Turkey Business Council in Turkey once the pandemic is over. He also expressed gratitude to all those who participated in the video conference.