At the ‘Qatar-France Business and Investment Forum’ held at the W Doha Hotel, French investors were offered access to four emerging regional markets with a combined GDP of U.S $2.1 tn and international trade worth U.S $1.13 tn by Qatar.

In a speech by QFC managing director for Business Development Sheikha Alanoud Hamad al-Thani stated that “Initiatives like today’s event are at the essence of QFC’s mission. This mission is to contribute toward our country’s vision of building, developing, and diversifying our economic environment. Attracting FDI is a national priority for us and QFC’s platform is the best option for your company when it comes to doing business in Qatar.”

She also mentioned French investors could easily consider Qatar as an accessible hub to a region that has 40 countries, “Combine Qatar with four other emerging regional markets – to highlight a few examples – Turkey, Kuwait, Oman, and Pakistan. This provides you access to an economic bloc with a combined GDP of U.S $2.1 tn and U.S $1.13 tn in trade” she added.

Bilateral trade between France and Qatar has seen a positive increase of 30% last year compared to 2016. Sheikha Alanoud stressed that Qatar has continuously proven itself as a stable, secure and prosperous ally in previous agreements over the years. She also added that Qatar’s economic growth rate is bound to grow by 2.8% this year and to rise to 3% in the coming years. She pointed out the growing global confidence in the future economy of Qatar, as with previous successes including the U.S $12 billion raised in a sovereign bond issue earlier this year. The volume of subscription for the initial public offering has reached U.S $53 billion at moderate interest rates.

“We rank first in the Arab world in the Global Entrepreneur Index, an important indicator of commitment to innovation and growth, and a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem. The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report ranks our capital market as “the best and most important” in the region and as one of the “top 10 financial markets in the world,” Sheikha Alanoud reinstated.

Despite the problems presented by the blockade between neighbouring countries, Sheikha Alanoud said Qatar has not failed to prove its resilience as the thriving economy by turning the challenges enforced upon it into positive opportunities by introducing a series of economic reforms. She supported this by highlighting the increase in exports by 18%, leading to a significant improvement in the public budget and trade balance as Qatar’s banking systems’ indicators have recovered and even improved their pre-blockade ratings.

Source: Gulf Times, The Peninsula. 

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