Istanbul, April 28 (QNA) - The State of Qatar today participated in the 11th Turkish-Arab Economic Forum (TAF 2016) which was convened in the Turkish city of Istanbul with a delegation led by HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed Al Thani.
The forum attracted participants including a number of Arab and Turkish ministers, ranking officials, bankers, businessmen and investors form Turkey and other regional countries as well as regional and international financing institutions. It discussed a host of joint economic issues among Arab countries and Turkey with the wide participation by senior political and economic leaderships from the Arab and Turkish sides.
HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce underlined in a speech he gave at the Forum's opening session the depth of relations between Arab countries and Turkey which are based on long standing history of geographic, economic and cultural bonds which contributed to the strengthening of relations of cooperation in various fields, especially economic, trade and investment areas and which were positively reflected on the level of trade exchanges between Arab countries and Turkey. The volume of trade exchange between the rose to 53 billion by the end of 2014, an increase of 12 percent compared to USD 47.5 billion in 2013. He expected that trade exchange between Turkey and Qatar to see an accelerated growth as Turkey is the fifth trade partner with the Arab countries.
HE Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed Al Thani referred to the distinguished fraternal relations between the State of Qatar and the Republic of Turkey which became more profound under the wise leadership of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He added that economic relations between the State of Qatar and Turkey are developing, explaining that the volume of trade exchange between the two countries in 2015 totaled USD 1.4 billion, praising in this regard the role played by Turkish companies in the implementation of many development companies in Qatar, especially in the field of infrastructure such as the building of bridges, roads and other service facilities.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al-Thani said the number of Turkish companies operating in the State of Qatar with a joint Qatari-Turkish capital totaled 242 while the number of the foreign Turkish companies operating in the State of Qatar with a 100 percent Turkish capital totaled about 26 with a capital of nearly USD two billions.
The forum has become the premier venue for exploring opportunities for investment, trade and economic cooperation and has been instrumental in introducing a large number of Arab investors, especially from the Gulf, to the Turkish economy and its many sectors. The prevalent economic situation in the world and the spectrum of a slow recovery makes this meeting of special significance. In particular the Turkish government has introduced important structural reforms and is intent on sustaining growth at a healthy range of between 4% and 5%, a goal which requires a steady contribution of FDI and the bolstering of foreign trade; on the other hand Arab investors are keen to deepen their presence in Turkish market. Turkey’s large economy and developed financial markets both have the capacity of receiving sizeable investments from the Arab region, and in that context the Turkish-Arab Economic Forum should help in elucidating opportunities, policies and recent reforms and business environment incentives.