Turkey, Qatar to increase economic cooperation despite pandemic

Bilateral trade between Qatar and Turkey is set for further expansion despite COVID-19, an official has said at a webinar organised by the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) yesterday.

As part of the QFC’s flagship “#AccessQatar” series, the webinar titled ‘Emerging Opportunities: Qatar & Turkey’ was organised in collaboration with the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and the Turkish Embassy in Doha, which highlighted the latest developments in Qatar’s business landscape and the growing investment opportunities in the country for Turkish companies, the Peninsula Qatar reports.

According to the report, bilateral trade between Qatar and Turkey has significantly increased from $340 million in 2010 to $2.24 billion in 2019.

Speaking during the webinar, Turkey’s Ambassador to Qatar, Mustafa Goksu, said both countries have a renewed focus on strengthening the partnership and particularly to overcome the negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic.

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“Qatar and Turkey are good examples of how nations can be well positioned to serve as role models of international cooperation. Our bilateral trade volume witnessed a remarkable increase from $340m in 2010 to $2.24bn in 2019, and we have signed 53 strategic agreements. Today, 535 Turkish–Qatari joint companies are operating in Qatar,” he added.

According to Turkish Foreign Ministry, Qatar ranks first among the Gulf countries in terms of the number of projects undertaken by Turkish contractors.

Meanwhile, the Turkey-Qatar Supreme Strategic Committee signed over 50 bilateral agreements.

The next meeting on economic partnership will be hosted in Turkey at the end of the year.

In 2017, Turkey came to Qatar’s aid when it’s Gulf neighbours and Egypt imposed an air, sea and land blockade on the gas rich state in an effort to force it to comply with their demands. Three years later, the blockade is ongoing and Doha’s ties with Ankara have deepened.