The Doha office of international law firm Crowell & Moring, which operates eight full-service offices across the US, has joined the US-Qatar Business Council (USQBC) as Falcon Member with a commitment to help foster business partnerships between the two nations.
The announcement comes as the two nations mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of US-Qatar diplomatic relations, signifying close cooperation on political, commercial, and security objectives.
Welcoming the firm as a new Falcon Member, Sheikha Mayes bint Hamad al-Thani, USQBC managing director, said: “Crowell & Moring is one of the largest international law firms and the US-Qatar Business Council is pleased to welcome them to the council as a Falcon Member. We look forward to working with them as they expand their business in Qatar.”
Charbel Maakaron, managing partner of the firm’s Doha office, said: “We hope to lend our significant legal expertise in helping businesses in both the US and Qatar to deepen and strengthen two-way commercial, trade, and investment ties.”
He added: “While the depth and breadth of trade between Qatar and the US are impressive, we believe there are significant untapped opportunities for greater technical expertise and bilateral co-operation to help realise Qatar National Vision 2030 to create a knowledge-based, environmentally sustainable, and technologically advanced economy.
“With our unrivalled local and US market expertise, we are well placed to assist investors and businesses from both nations as they seek to capitalise on opportunities by providing solid business establishment advice and creative solutions to complex litigation and arbitration, regulatory and policy, and corporate and transactional issues.”
Qatar and the US are top trading partners with two-way goods trade accounting to $8.2bn value in 2019 alone, making the US Qatar’s number one source of imports. Currently, Qatar’s investment and trade with the US supports more than 800,000 American jobs, while more than 120 wholly-owned US companies now operate in Qatar with another 820 US-Qatar joint ventures in operation.