German trade mission and Qatar Chamber sign MoU

A 20-member German trade delegation, led by Felix Neugart, head of German Industry and Commerce Offices for UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq (AHK), visited Qatar Chamber (QC), yesterday and held discussions with the Chamber Vice Chairman Mohammed bin Ahmed bin Towar Al Kuwari; and the representatives of Qatari private companies. On the sidelines of the meeting, Qatar Chamber and AHK also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
Peter Ziegler, Deputy Head of Mission-German Embassy to Qatar, was also present.
Addressing the event, Qatar Chamber Vice Chairman  recalled the long history of both the countries’ political and economic relations .
Four years ago, both the countries celebrated the 40th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations. In 2015, the bilateral trade reached $2.54bn which is expected to increase in the future, he said.
In 2017, Germany and Qatar are holding a 'bilateral cultural year', officially entitled "German Season in Qatar" with the aim to strengthen civil society ties between Germany and Qatar and provide the opportunity for discussions on socially relevant issues through cultural exchange and dialogue. Mohammed bin Ahmed bin Towar said  the Chamber appreciates so much the economic experiments of Germany and keen to take advantage of the German expertise in various fields.
 “We are interested to take advantage of the pioneer expertise in developing technology, SMEs, plant construction, energy generation, industry and the service sector as well as the transport infrastructure sector. As you know, Qatar is implementing number of mega projects for developing the infrastructure and for 2022 World Cup preparations. Qatar gives a top priority to German investors”, he said.
There are several German companies operating in Qatar working in developing railways, trade, services and infrastructure where fully-owned by Germans or those owned by joint Qatari and German capital. “Indeed, we are fully honoured to see more German companies part of this success… German and Qatari companies can cooperate in these projects. There are lots of opportunities for partnership in the Qatari market”, he added.
Felix said the trade volume between Qatar and Germany has been growing at an exponential rate. The year 2015-2016 witnessed an 18 percent growth in the volume. This huge increase shows the future potential of Qatari-German cooperation, he added.
The trade delegates represented German companies involved in a wide range of sectors. They included senior executives of the companies ranging from machine manufacturers, water treatment plants, companies in the construction sector, automatic cable laying, production of polyster for textiles, production of polymer-based solutions and planning of building and infrastructure projects.