Amir's tour echoes Qatar's keenness to build robust partnerships across Asia, says Sheikh Khalifa

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani's Asia tour will beef up Qatar's co-operation relations with Asia across economic, trade and investment areas, said Chairperson of the Qatar Chamber (QC), Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani.

He said His Highness the Amir’s visits to the Philippines, Nepal and Bangladesh are driven by a Qatari approach to push forward its relations and partnerships across Asia — part of a broader strategy to boost the common interests of the State of Qatar and its Asian partners.

Highlighting the existing multi-sector Doha-Manila relations, Sheikh Khalifa said His Highness the Amir’s visit to the Philippines would definitely bolster relations and open new horizons for bilateral cooperation and partnerships, especially across the trade and economic areas.

The trade relations between Qatar and the Philippines have remarkably grown in recent years, with the total trade between the two countries reaching QR732mn in 2023.

Sheikh Khalifa attributed this growth to the key contributions of Qatari and Filipino private sectors via building commercial partnerships and alliances, urging businesses in both countries to capitalize on foreign investment promotion policies in the two countries, and to seize the opportunities available to launch joint projects that would send bilateral trade volumes even higher.

He highlighted the QC's support to cement cooperation between Qatari and Filipino firms across all sectors, especially with Qatari businessmen seeking to explore the investment opportunities in the Philippines. He added that the Philippines is a leading investment destination and provides viable investment opportunities.

Sheikh Khalifa hailed the Filipino workers working in various sectors of the Qatari market.

His Highness the Amir will also stop in Nepal with which Qatar has developed powerful multi-field relations, especially in the economic and trade areas. Sheikh Khalifa said His Highness the Amir’s visit to Kathmandu would open new prospects for the existing bilateral cooperation, pushing forward the trade and investment exchange and cooperation and partnership relations between the business sectors of the two countries.

Sheikh Khalifa added that the bilateral trader exchange is still at modest levels despite the two sides' cooperation under bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding across multiple sectors such as agriculture, food security, tourism, and others.

Yet, there is a common desire to step up the trade volume by ramping up mutual investments and stimulating the private sector in the two countries to build trade alliances and partnerships.

Qatari business owners are keen to explore the investment opportunities in Nepal, especially in the promising areas of tourism and food security, Sheikh Khalifa noted.

He hailed the Qatar-based Nepalese workers' major contribution to urban renaissance across the country.

Sheikh Khalifa also highlighted that His Highness the Amir’s visit to the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh would add more momentum to the bilateral relations and open broader horizons for cooperation across all fields, especially in the economic and trade areas, and increase the trade exchange volume.

The trade exchange volume between both countries surged to roughly QR7.8bn in 2023 from QR2.4bn in 2018, a more than 200% growth primarily ascribed to the key role of private sectors in both countries.

Sheikh Khalifa highlighted that Qatar is the main LNG supplier to Bangladesh to support the South Asian nation's energy needs in its quest for greater economic development. In January 2024, QatarEnergy and US-based Excelerate Energy inked a long-term deal under which Bangladesh would receive 1mn metric tonnes per year (mtpy) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for 15 years from January 2026.

Highlighting the QC's support for establishing commercial alliances between Qatari and Bangladeshi firms and bolstering the trade exchange, Sheikh Khalifa said that Qatari businesses are keen to explore investment opportunities in Bangladesh as a an investment-attractive destination.