HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani on Wednesday held separate meetings with US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and US Secretary of Commerce Willbur Ross and several other US economy-related officials.
The two meetings, held on the sidelines of his participation in the Qatari-US Strategic Dialogue in Washington, DC, dealt with reviewing economic and investment ties and the means to advance them, in addition to discussing the outcomes of the session on enhancing commerce and investment in the Qatari-US dialogue session.
For his part, the US Secretary of Commerce praised the performance of the Qatari economy and expressed his satisfaction of the American companies there.
He also highlighted the performance of Qatari investments, which helped create jobs for American citizens.
Sheikh Ahmed also held a meeting with the Assistant United States Trade Representative Dan Mullaney on the sidelines of the strategic dialogue.
They discussed the outcomes of the latest talks between the United States-Qatar Council on Trade and Investment (TIFA). They also discussed the latest memorandums of understanding and reviewed facets of co-operation in different sectors.
The minister invited the American side to hold the next meeting in Doha, which will take place before the end of the year.
Separately, the minister also met the President of the US-Qatar Business Council Ambassador Anne Patterson.
They discussed bilateral relations between the private sectors of both countries in all sectors and the latest developments of the council.
The American side presented the council's plan for the next five years.
On Tuesday, HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce chaired a session on enhancing investment and commerce between the two countries.
Participating in the session on the American side were assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs, assistant secretary of commerce for global markets, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour Affairs, a representative of the US for international relations, and the Office of Intellectual Property Enforcement.
Sheikh Ahmed discussed ways to increase trade volume between the two sides and lift challenges facing investments in the two countries.
The two sides also discussed the incentives offered by Qatar to attract foreign investments.
The minister stressed the strength of the historic ties between Qatar and the US and noted that the two sides signed a commerce and investment agreement in 2004 in order to expand co-operation.
He also highlighted that the strategic dialogue was an important step to enhancing ties further.
Qatar and the US have strong investment and commercial ties in the field of oil and gas.
Trade volume for 2017 reached $6bn.
Qatar has a total of 102 companies that have 100% American ownership, compared to 505 other companies that are in partnership with a Qatari side.
There are also 40 companies that are licensed and work under the umbrella of Qatar Financial Centre (QFC).
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