BY MOHAMMAD SHOEB
DOHA: With huge trade and investment relations with Germany, Qatar has been accorded as the “most important Arab investor” by the Europe’s largest economy. And the recently concluded first official visit of the Emir, H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to the country was dubbed as “very important and successful” by the German Ambassador to Qatar, Angelika Storz-Chakarji.
“It was a very important and successful visit. We are very happy about it as His Highness met with not only the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel and the President of Germany, Joachim Gauck but also with the Minister of Economic Affairs and Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel and the Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit. He also visited Bavaria, one of our Federal States,” said Storz-Chakarji in an interview on the sidelines of an event here recently.
The envoy said: “Qatar is the most important Arab investor in Germany. During the visit of His Highness a lot of focus was given to further strengthen bilateral economic and cultural ties between the two countries.”
Storz-Chakarji reiterated that cooperation in the field of cultural relations was given equal importance as both the countries are preparing for the upcoming Qatar-German Cultural Year 2017.
On economic ties, she said: “Qatar-German trade volume is steadily increasing. There are a lot of German companies doing business in Qatar, and Qatar also has made a lot of investments in Germany.”
The envoy highlighted that Germany is well positioned to offer expertise in building infrastructure, including stadiums. German companies and organisations have gained a lot of experience with regard to mega-events and the handling of a huge number of people attending these events.
Asked about the recent statement of Fifa executive board member, Theo Zwanziger, former President of the German Football Association (DFB), who recently said that Qatar will be stripped of its right to host the 2022 World Cup, she said: “As a representative of Germany, I cannot comment on Mr Zwanziger´s statement. It does not represent German government’s view.” The Peninsula
DOHA: Qatar-German bilateral trade volume in 2013 increased to QR9.29bn (€2.02bn), up 37.4 percent compared to QR6.76bn (€1.47bn) in 2012, data provided by German Embassy in Qatar show.
Qatar’s imports from Germany in 2013 increased to QR5.79bn (€1.26bn), up 5 percent compared to QR5.52bn (€1.2bn) in 2012. The imports by Qatar from Germany mainly comprised of automobiles and parts (25.8 percent), plant and machinery (20.8 percent), chemical products (10.8 percent), electro-technology (9.4 percent), metal goods (4.6 percent) and process measuring control technology (4 percent) and miscellaneous (24.6 percent).
The trade figures for the last couple of years (2012 and 2013) between Qatar and Germany show that there has been a steady and strong growth in economic ties between the two countries.
Where as the total volume of Qatar’s exports to Germany in 2013 amounted to QR3.50bn (€762m), up 13.7 percent from QR3.08bn (€670m) in 2012. The items of Qatari exports to the eurozone’s largest economy mainly included natural gas (69.9 percent), crude oil (21.6 percent), chemical products (4.8 percent), machinery (2 percent), electronic goods (0.1 percent) and miscellaneous (1.6 percent). Qatar’s trade with Germany had also registered a significant growth of more than 30 percent in 2012 compared to the previous year (2011). The Peninsula
