Sheikha Mayes bint Hamad al-Thani, USQBC managing director in Qatar, delivered the welcome remarks followed by Taylor, who delivered his speech.
She said, “We are delighted to introduce former congressman Scott Taylor during his first visit to Qatar as president of USQBC. Scott brings with him extensive global experience that will help strengthen and develop US-Qatar bilateral business relationship even further and I look forward to working together with him to advance the interests of our members in Qatar.”
Taylor added: “The United States and Qatar continue to strengthen their strategic bilateral relationship across many fields. The relationship between the two countries has never been stronger in our 50 years of partnership.
“The USQBC stands ready to assist in expanding the thriving commercial partnership for both our Qatari and American member companies. While the FIFA World Cup 2022 is just around the corner, as well as many exciting projects in the pipeline, the best is yet to come.”
This was Taylor’s first visit to Doha since being appointed as president of USQBC on June 3, 2022. Taylor will use his extensive experience in international business development, government relations, and government diplomacy to support USQBC’s mission to expand and enhance the bilateral business relationship between Qatar and the US.
Taylor is also a former US Navy SEAL. As a Congressman representing Virginia’s 2nd district, Taylor served on the Appropriations Committee. He was a sponsor of the Ashanti Alert Act, a nationwide network for missing persons, and the VA SEA Act for accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Prior to his time in Congress, Taylor served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the US and Qatar. This milestone signifies the longevity and strength of the strategic alliance between the two countries with Qatar recently being designated a “Major Non-Nato Ally” by US President Joe Biden. The US and Qatar have established a solid base for distinguished regional and international political relations, in addition to deep commercial, security, and cultural partnerships.
The bilateral business ties between the US and Qatar continue to solidify with the total economic relationship between them exceeding $200bn as of 2019. The US is Qatar’s largest foreign direct investor with a total of $110.6bn in FDI and is the largest single source of exports to Qatar at $6.5bn in goods in 2019. Today, more than 850 US companies now operate in Qatar.
Qatar is an increasingly large investor in the US having pledged over $45bn in investments over the coming years with key investments already made across multiple sectors, including oil and gas, financial technology, real estate, food production, and hospitality, among others
