Turkish companies seek investment opportunities in Qatar

Hundreds of Turkish companies are seeking to strengthen their presence in Qatar through the upcoming “Expo Turkey by Qatar” exhibition which will be held this week in the Qatari capital Doha, Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI), announced on Monday.

Mohamed Bin Ahmed Bin Tawar Al-Kuwari, Vice Chairman of QCCI, told Anadolu Agency that the expo aims at enhancing Turkish investments in Qatar as well as bolstering economic and trade-related bilateral relations between the two countries.

The three-day “Expo Turkey by Qatar” event is scheduled to kick-off from 18 -20 April in Doha, where hundreds Turkish and Qatari businesses and investors in various sectors will get together to discuss potential business opportunities and deals.

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Al-Kuwari pointed out that the Qatari market lacks the Turkish expertise in various sectors, stressing that “the exhibition will be an opportunity to fulfil the Qatari market needs.”

The expo, which is expected to further enhance Turkish-Qatari relations, will host businesses from eight different sectors, including construction, food and beverage and furniture, with the participation of 300 companies and about 5,000 businessmen, according to Al-Kuwari.

The event organisers recently predicted the exhibition to attract more than 3,000 businessmen from the MENA region, along with 10,000 visitors from Qatar.

Qatar has been experiencing strong trade and economic relations with Turkey, with a $700 million trade volume in 2016, up from $15 million since the beginning of the 2000s. Early this year, the President of the Union of Turkish Chambers and Commodity Exchanges, Rifat Hisarcıklı Oğlu, said that the volume of Turkish businesses’ investments in Qatar amounted to $14 billion by the end of 2016.

Last January, the “Qatar Chamber 2nd SMEs Conference” was held in Doha with a large number of Turkish companies who were present at the event, in a move to the empower region’s small and medium enterprises.