DOHA: Qatar and the Republic of Turkey, a total of 150 Turkish companies will present their products at Qatari-Turkish Economic Forum, which will open in Doha Today. Turkish companies specialising in infrastructure, building materials, pharmaceutical and medical supplies, foodstuff, agriculture, glass and plastic, industrial equipment, electricity, and logistics and security systems will be represented at the event, organised by Qatar Chamber in collaboration with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB). The forum will feature sessions to discuss and track investment opportunities in the State of Qatar to be presented by officials from the Ministry of Economy and Commerce and the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The forum will also include a working session on investment opportunities in Turkey presented by officials from Turkey. The forum comes days after the launch of the Turkish e-commerce platform in the Qatari market on January 1. The platform was launched by Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti and Turkey’s Minister of Transport and Communication Ahmet Arslan last November to provide nearly 5 million Turkish products in the Qatari market. Last August, Qatar, and Turkey announced the signing of 15 cooperation agreements between Qatari and Turkish companies during a visit of Qatari businessmen delegation to Izmir and Istanbul. The cooperation agreements focused on the sectors of pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, construction materials, shipping, and logistics, plastic, aluminum, glass, technology, furniture and air conditioning industries. During a meeting with a Turkish trade delegation last week, Vice Chairman of the Qatar Chamber Mohammed bin Ahmed bin Tawar said that the Qatari-Turkish relations are witnessing rapid growth at various levels, prompting the private sector in both countries to establish alliances and trade partnerships to pave the way for increased bilateral trade in order to reach the level of ambitions. He noted that the Qatar Chamber is keen to push forward relations between Qatari businessmen and their Turkish counterparts to further growth and progress to benefit the private sector in both countries. Qatar Chamber has signed agreements and memorandums of understanding with a number of Turkish chambers, facilitating the establishment of partnerships and alliances between Qatari and Turkish companies and exchanging information and data to facilitate the establishment of business in both countries. For his part, the Turkish Ambassador to Qatar Fikret Ozer affirmed Turkey’s continuous efforts to cooperate with the State of Qatar in the framework of the keenness of the leaders of the two countries in all fields between the two brotherly countries. Turkish exports of goods to Qatar rose 51.5% in June, compared to the same month in 2016. The total value of Turkish exports to Qatar last June reached $53.5m, the food came in the forefront, he added. The shares of Turkey will rise in the construction work and preparations for the World Cup, which will be hosted by Qatar in 2022, in which the construction company won a Turkish construction company (Takfin Construction) won a contract project in Qatar worth $200m for constructing a road. The project will be completed within 27 months. Trade relations between the two countries have been strengthened recently. In the first quarter of 2017, the Turkish companies completed 128 projects in Qatar with a total value of $14.2bn. Recently, Qatar announced plans to invest $19bn in Turkey in 2018. Qatar-Turkey trade exchange was $834.5m in 2016, while trade between the two countries during the first eight months of 2017 was $634m. The most important country’s imports from Turkey are electrical appliances, iron and steel products, dairy and cheese products, medical equipment, furniture and organic and inorganic compounds.
