Officials from Qatar and Germany recently held discussions in Berlin on how to further spur economic growth in both the countries and to forge stronger trade ties in various sectors.
Qatar Chamber chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani met with Germany’s Member of Ministries Council and Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Thomas Bareiss, the chamber announced in a statement Tuesday.
According to the statement, both the officials reviewed ways of developing co-operation relations between the two friendly countries, exploring investment opportunities available in both sides, as well as activating private sectors to forge joint enterprises in both the nations.
During the meeting, Sheikh Khalifa invited Bareiss to visit Qatar with a business delegation to explore the investment climate and available opportunities in the country and to discuss ways to strengthen co-operation between Qatari and German companies.
“The German official welcomed the invitation and promised to pay a visit to Qatar in the near future,” the statement said.
Aside from Sheikh Khalifa and Bareiss, the meeting was attended by Daniel Limer, the Middle East official at the German Ministry of Economy and Energy; Ambassador of Germany to Qatar Hans-Udo Muzel; and Abdul Aziz Hassan al-Haj, second secretary at Qatar’s embassy in Germany.
Sheikh Khalifa said the Chamber is keen to enhance co-operation ties between the Qatari private sector and its German counterpart, noting that both countries enjoyed “distinguished relations” in all aspects, especially the economic side.
“The total trade volume between Qatar and Germany stood at $2.1bn last year, and Germany is an important trading partner of Qatar,” Sheikh Khalifa pointed out.
The Qatar Chamber official also lauded the growing co-operation relations between both countries’ companies, and assured that number of German companies in Qatar is growing.
There are more than 300 German companies operating in the Qatari market in various sectors, according to Sheikh Khalifa. Qatari investments in Germany amounted to around €25bn, he said, adding that “Qatar will invest more than €10bn in the coming five years.”
In September 2018, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani announced during the ‘9th Qatar-Germany Business and Investment Forum’ held in Berlin, Germany, that Qatar will pour additional investments into the German economy.
The investments would bring economic ties between Qatar and Germany “to new heights,” Muzel told Gulf Times previously.
“This fresh round of planned investments, which include vital projects in the automobile industry and the Information Technology and banking sectors, would add to Qatar’s investment portfolio in Germany, which now stands at more than €25bn,” Muzel earlier said.