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$45bn Qatar investments in UK, says minister

January 11, 2019 at 3:06 pm

Qatari investments in Britain have exceeded £35 billion ($45 billion), the UK’s Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Tobias Ellwood, announced yesterday.

Speaking to Qatar’s Al-Sharq newspaper, Ellwood said that Doha was participating to the “most important and largest investment projects” in the UK, adding that it had “strong economic and trade ties with us [Britain].”

He pointed out that Qatar’s exports to the UK amounted to £2.7 billion ($3.45 billion) in 2017, while the British exports to the Gulf state stood at £2.6 billion ($3.32 billion) during the same year.

“There are around 622 joint ventures between the two countries, here [UK] and in Qatar, in different fields, including energy, health, trade and education,” Ellwood noted.

In March 2017, the two countries launched a joint event in the British capital London, dubbed “Qatar-UK Business and Investment Forum”, which paved the way for a new £5 billion ($6.4 billion) Qatari investment in the UK over three years.

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Doha has been exerting intensive efforts to diversify its investments, and expand and strengthen its foreign relations, especially on the economic level since its neighbours launched a blockade against it.

On 5 June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic and trade links with Qatar, accusing the Gulf state of “supporting terrorism.” Qatar denies the accusations.