DOHA: Austria is looking to further bolster its ties with Qatar. After witnessing a jump in Austria’s exports to Qatar in 2015, the country wants to attract Qatari investments.
Talking to Dar Al Sharq Group’s Lusail Daily, Dr Willy Kempel , Austria’s first Resident Ambassador to Qatar said Austrian exports to Qatar have doubled in 2015 and a large variety of Austrian activities and products can be found in Qatar. Austrian companies are actively present in the construction and infrastructure areas, including in the Green Metro Line and the Al Wakra Stadium. Visible Austrian products include the Airport People Transporter, fire-brigade vehicles, energy drinks and many more. Austrians are involved in diverse activities in Qatar such as restaurant and hotel management, sport management, arts such as musicians and film-makers, corporate social responsibility, event management, Halal produces and many more, he said.
Austrian company PORR is in the lead of the construction consortium and thus heavily engaged in completing the works in time. If I am not mistaken the street level should be reached by the end of November this year and I am invited back to witness progress on the ground. I have also visited a site near Al Rayan Stadium housing workers and I was positively impressed by the range of services offered to them. Services and standards regarding hygiene, communications, water, food and housing in general seem more than satisfactory. Visits to other camps and installations will follow also together with Ambassadors of European Union Member States.
A growing number of Austrian companies are engaged in lightening works and other infrastructure activities such as clean water management. As mentioned an Austrian company has provided the People Transporter at the Doha Airport. “Thus I am very happy to see Austrian activities and brands everywhere in Qatar. Looking at this personal engagement of Austrians and Austrian companies here in Qatar, I express my hope that more and more Qataris will discover Austria for a place of vacation, investment and dialogue”, Dr Willy said.
On Austria’s visa regulations, he said Austria has not tightened visa regulations for Qataris, but, Austria has in fact tightened its border controls in order to cope with the large influx of refugees and immigrants. As all other countries in Europe and beyond, Austria is certainly vigilant about the security issues. In 2015 Austria was faced with a situation of more than 1.2 million refugees and immigrants crossing its borders. The borders were opened for humanitarian reasons. Managing the arrival of such a large number of people is a challenge and thus we are undertaking controlling their access and also organizing their stay.
The EU and GCC have a framework of cooperation, consultations, meetings and ongoing dialogue. A free trade agreement still has to be finalized. Thus comparing notes, meeting in person and exchanging information where necessary are important tools for fostering peace and security. On enhancing relations between Austria and Arab countries the Austrian envoy said his country has been always open to strengthening the ties with the Arab region.
