DOHA: A large number of UK-based small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) are expected to visit Qatar every year with the establishment of the British Chamber of Commerce in Qatar (BCCQ), Francis Maude, British Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General said here the other day.
The City of London’s Lord Mayor Alderman Alan Yarrow, together with British embassy officials, led the inauguration of BCCQ last month.
“We are working with Qatar Development Bank (QDB). It will be on the SME sector here and we are trying to strengthen our relations with them,” Maude said. He met with senior Qatari government officials last week to discuss a number of issues on cyber security, transparency, and ‘open government.’
With numerous British SMEs visit Qatar every year, the BCCQ is expected to provide them with the needed assistance. Maude said “a big push” by the Qatari government to support the SMEs will result in a win-win situation.
The British embassy is also expected to provide help to its SMEs but the chamber will be the focal point. “We will be working closely with QDB and other partners on how to develop relations between the UK and Qatari SMEs,” he said.
Yarrow had earlier noted that the BCCQ would aim to strengthen the country’s entrepreneurship and SME sector to help Qatar diversify away from the hydrocarbon industry. While Qatar has vast hydrocarbon resources, he believes the country should develop its other industries especially SMEs.
Maude also said Qatar’s investment in the UK is worth about £30bn, largely centred in London.
“What we try to do now is to look outside of London, in other places, such as Scotland,” he said. He said there are investment opportunities in other parts of the UK, especially in energy infrastructure and other key sectors.
The British official added that Qatar has the highest investment in London compared with other Gulf countries.
About bilateral ties with Qatar, Maude noted that the two countries enjoy a very deep and strong relationship at all levels. “There is a lot of Qatari investment in London, and elsewhere in Britain and we are busy building that up,” he said. “We want Britain to be the most open economy, the best place in the world for companies to do business.”
