Germany seeks to strengthen trade ties with Qatar: Habeck

German Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck on Saturday said that his visit to Qatar aims at strengthening the economic relations between the two countries and exploring new opportunities in Doha and Berlin.
This came during a business dinner organised by the Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA) at the Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Museum which was attended by more than 100 guests from the business community of both countries.
From QBA, the meeting was headed by QBA Chairman Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani and attended by QBA First Deputy Hussein Al Fardan in addition to Sheikh Hamad bin Jabor Al Thani. From the QBA board, Sherida Al Kaabi and Saud Al Mana attended, while QBA members Khalid Al Mannai, Abdul Salam Issa Abu Issa, Yousef Al Mahmoud, Haider Mashhadi, Sheikh Khalid bin Nawaf Al Thani, Sheikh Jabor bin Hamad Al Thani and QBA Deputy GM Sarah Abdullah were also present on the occasion.
Sheikh Faisal described the visit of Robert Habeck and his accompanying delegation at FBQ Museum as a distinguished and important step towards strengthening the relations between the two countries.
He said, “We have been honoured today by the visit of the German vice chancellor and the Qatari businessmen as well as more than 60 representatives of German companies, confirming the depth of the relationship between the two countries, which provide great investment opportunities.”
Sheikh Faisal praised the investments of German companies in Qatar, which contributed to the success of a number of 2022 FIFA World Cup projects, as well as Qatar Vision 2030, in addition to the success of the investments of a number of Qatari companies in Germany in various fields.
For his part, Al Fardan said that QBA is working to link economic relations with delegations and major companies that visit Qatar and translate this into real investments. He called on German companies to invest in Qatar as Qatari law offers significant incentives to foreign investors including full ownership of banks.
He also pointed out that the world is changing and Qatar is also changing and offering privileges and a proper investment climate for all international companies accompanied by a package of legislation, a sophisticated infrastructure as well as a strong logistical structure.
Ambassador of Germany to Qatar HE Claudius Fischbach expressed his happiness over this visit and meeting with QBA members where the German delegation including representatives of major German companies active in the sectors of energy, technology, industry and finance, discussed joint investment opportunities in Doha and Berlin.
The German vice chancellor praised Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Museum in Al Shahaniya, where he visited all the sections that immortalise an entire history, from the sections of cars to the gallery of the Noble Qur’an and coins, and a large group of unique and unusual artefacts from more than four continents. This collection contains pieces from the Jurassic period until the early Islamic era and to the present day.
The volume of bilateral trade between Qatar and Germany amounted to QR11.2 billion in 2021, up from QR6.4 billion in 2020, according to the Planning and Statistics Authority. This qualitative increase is due to the increase in the volume of Qatari exports from QR500 million to more than QR5 billion. Most of the Qatari imports are cars and aircraft spare parts, while liquefied gas is the backbone of Qatari exports.