Strengthening of India-Qatar ties stressed at IBPC summit

The necessity of India and Qatar working more intensely than ever before in the coming years to strengthen their economies was highlighted at the Qatar India Business & Professionals Council (IBPC), which concluded in Doha yesterday.The need for increasing bilateral trade and investments between the two countries was stressed by speakers at the meeting.This was one of the major recommendations of the summit.The other recommendations at the conclusion of the two-day conference included the decision to compile data of all Indian companies operating in Qatar.The speakers felt there is scope for attracting more travellers from Qatar to India. They said  more ways and means should be explored to set up more higher educational institutions from India in Qatar.There is a greater need to take a Qatari delegation to India to explore new business ventures, it was pointed out. The conference also called upon the authorities of both Qatar and India to enhance their links in the banking sector.While expressing the hope to expanding the bilateral trade steadily, the speakers also felt there is a good chance to develop Qatar’s LNG market in India to enhance its demand from the current levels.Another recommendation was to discover new areas of co-operation between the two countries in such sectors as railways, energy and infrastructure.Calling upon the authorities for holding more deliberations for strengthening co-operation between the two countries, the conference came forward with suggestions to put in place more relaxed visa procedures, including the possibility to explore such avenues as permanent residency as a way to support more investments.The conference also felt there should be a further follow up at higher levels to the discussions that took place in Doha, so that there could be fruitful partnerships in many areas in future.At the conference yesterday, the chairman of Manipal Global Education India @2030,  T V Mohandas Pai, delivered an inspirational keynote address on  ‘How tech entrepreneurs will create a $10tn economy in India by the turn of 2030.’There was a panel discussion  ‘Technology and Innovation’, that focused on the latest trends in boosting technology and innovation in Qatar.Moderated by Maha al-Sulaiti from Qatar National Bank, the discussion involved Sanjay Jain, chief Innovation Officer, Center for Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship IIM Ahmedabad; and Visham Sikand, founder, Goals 101.There was yet another useful session ‘Infrastructure: New Tides of Opportunity’ featuring Sujoy Bose, CEO, National Investment & Infrastructure Fund of India ( NIIF).  Bose was joined by panellists from the Qatar National Bank Group (QNB) to discuss the possibilities for investors in both Qatar and India.While focusing on the importance of creating a superior infrastructure in technological applications, the speaker said infrastructure building started to develop properly only three decades ago and the quality of maturity in decision making on infrastructure started improving only in the last decade.In his concluding address, Indian ambassador to Qatar P Kumaran hailed the conference as the first initiative of its kind with the joint involvement of the Indian embassy and the IBPC.While expressing happiness at the quality of the discussions that took place at the two-day event,  the envoy hoped the active cooperation of the Indian business community in Qatar could contribute to holding similar meetings in future as well. He also  hailed the participation of Indian Minister M J Akbar at the opening of the conference. At the meeting yesterday, Ali Ibrahim Abdullah al-Malki, independent director, Board of Directors, Doha Bank, focused on the importance of Qatar-India relations, which he said could help both the countries understand and explore the capabilities of each other in the coming days.“It would also contribute to strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries,” he said. Among the key sponsors and partners of the event included QNB, Manateq, Milaha, Mowasalat, Coastal Group, Jet Airways, Parex, and Inter-Tech.