Qatar, Nigeria discuss ways to strengthen economic ties

The Qatar-Nigeria Economic Forum kicked off Saturday in Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria, in the presence of senior officials, heads of chambers and representatives of the private sectors in both countries.
Qatar’s organisation of the forum aims to bring together major manufacturers from Qatar and their counterparts in Nigeria to further deepen the bilateral relations based on the directives of the leadership of the two friendly countries.
The forum aims to enhance economic cooperation and review business opportunities between the two countries.
In an opening speech, Governor of Lagos State Babajide Sanwo Olu expressed his admiration for the progress made by Qatar in the industrial field, stressing that Nigeria will benefit from the various Qatari industries that were reviewed during the forum.
He said that Qatar is one of the richest countries in the world and it is good to benefit from its experience in achieving all these great accomplishments as Nigeria is also an emerging economy, and will look for ways for fruitful cooperation with Qatar.
Olu underlined that Lagos will benefit greatly from the commercial discussions between Qatari manufacturers and their Nigerian counterparts to exchange ideas on ways to enhance economic cooperation.
For his part, Ambassador of Qatar to Nigeria HE Dr Ali bin Ghanim Al Hajri said that the forum saw a strong interaction between the Qatari delegation and the Nigerian parties.
The participants took a keen interest in deliberations that provided an opportunity to open new horizons for dialogue, consultation, exchange views on a number of commercial issues of common interest, and renew the commitment to deepen trade between the two countries, especially in the fields of manufacturing, construction, oil and gas and technology.
The envoy referred to the Nigerian government’s request in 2021 to cooperate with Qatar in the field of gas development in order to enhance investment in the energy and gas industries.
“This provided the opportunity for Qatar Development Bank to expand its presence in Nigeria through partnerships in various sectors such as building materials, construction, building chemicals, health and medical fields, oil and gas products, plastics, packaging and ICT service areas,” he said.
The events represented by Qatar Development Bank in Lagos and the capital Abuja, aim to lay the foundation for strong economic cooperation between the two countries and to enable investors to meet and interact with high-level policymakers in Nigeria in order to increase cooperation in the fields of agriculture, oil and gas, mining and infrastructure development.