In the wake of the 5th Qatar-US Strategic Dialogue held recently in Qatar, the American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar (AmCham Qatar) will continue to enhance its role in facilitating trade and investments between US companies and their Qatari counterparts, an official has said.
“AmCham Qatar has always been a strategic dialogue partner and given the mission of our organisation we’re even more excited that it’s being held right here in our backyard,” AmCham Qatar executive director Brooke Holland told Gulf Times Wednesday.
She said: “As the primary local organisation for the American private sector and given our close relationship with our US embassy in Doha, our role is to continue to be that private sector voice and catalyst for US companies here...all of our leadership is excited about the ongoing dialogue.”
Asked how the strategic dialogue will help AmCham Qatar facilitate business, trade, and commerce between Qatar and the US, Holland said: “The strategic dialogue is one of the few times, if not the only time, where you get everyone together at the table. It’s important to have this dialogue with government and business organisations, as well as stakeholders, among others, to really talk about the nuts and bolts of what’s happening in Qatar and abroad.
“At the end of the day, we all share a lot of common goals. The strategic dialogue brings us out of our silos. I think it’s also clear that Qatar National Vision 2030 will be a key discussion point, of which, business, trade, and commerce are crucial to some of that success.”
Holland also said US ambassador Timmy T Davis has AmCham Qatar’s support in promoting the US embassy’s sub-national diplomacy campaign, which aims to open the Qatari market to American small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
“As the primary American private sector organisation here in Qatar, we are incredibly fortunate to have such a longstanding and great relationship with our US embassy in Doha. This relationship has only strengthened with the appointment of our incredible new ambassador, Timmy Davis.
“The senior commercial officer even holds an honorary board seat within AmCham Qatar, which helps ensure our mutual goals of trade, commerce, and investment are achieved and maximised to the private sector in Qatar,” Holland explained.
She said: “We will continue to work with the US embassy to support the ‘2023 SelectUSA Investment Summit Delegation’, and we are exploring new ways the Commerical Law Department and other embassy/state department programmes can benefit our member initiatives here.
“This year has shown that visiting delegations are back in full swing and we will continue to work with the embassy on ensuring these delegations leave with a full understanding and resources into what it means to do business in Qatar.”
Holland added: “In 2023, we plan to take this a step further by partnering on the Clean Tech Trade mission stop-off in Doha, hosting our inaugural Sustainability Summit in March 2023.
“Working with the embassy here in Doha has and will continue to be at the centre of our strategic dialogue, and we are proud of the work we do collectively here on the ground together to help American companies.”