DOHA: The high-profile Qatari-Turkish Economic Forum set to open here today will explore the possibilities of cross investment opportunities. The event, in which around 150 Turkish companies are expected to participate, will see a separate working session that would discuss the two-way investment opportunities between the countries.
It is significant to note that the Forum comes at a time when Turkey is seeking to attract foreign investments to its huge infrastructure projects in pipeline; and a day after Turkey’s economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci hinted that the Turkey’s cabinet is to announce a $21bn package to boost 20 mega projects ranging from healthcare to energy. In another significant development, Turkish government yesterday unveiled the route of its hugely ambitious 45km project designed to its answer to the famed artificial shipping lanes in Panama or Egypt’s Suez. The construction of Turkey’s massive new airport is another major project taking shape in the county’s infrastructure sector.
Data available on public domain suggests Turkey’s logistics sector has attracted $1.9bn in foreign investments as its cargo capacity quadrupled in the last 10 years. “Logistics, which provides an investment environment to 400,000 people, is a significant employment sector of Turkey,” Emre Eldener, chairman of Turkey’s Association of International Forwarding and Logistics Service Providers (UTİKAD), told state-run Anadolu Agency, last week.
Turkey attracted around $13bn in foreign direct investment between 2008 and 2017, according to data from the Economy Ministry.
Today’s event is being organized by Qatar Chamber (QC) in collaboration with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB). Qatar Chamber said yesterday the forum will feature sessions to discuss and track investment opportunities in Qatar. The officials from Ministry of Economy and Commerce and the Ministry of Transport and Communications will showcase the opportunities in Qatar.
“Qatar is on the top of the list of foreign investment in the Turkish economy with a level of more than $20bn, as the State of Qatar aspires to Turkey not only to export natural gas, but to re-export to Europe by building a Qatari strategic station in Turkey,” Qatar Chamber said yesterday.
“The Qatar Chamber is keen to push forward relations between Qatari businessmen and their Turkish counterparts to further growth and progress to benefit the private sector in both countries. Qatar Chamber has signed agreements and memorandums of understanding with a number of Turkish chambers, facilitating the establishment of partnerships and alliances between Qatari and Turkish companies and exchanging information and data to facilitate the establishment of business in both countries” the Chamber said. Chairman of Arab-Turkish Businessmen Association in Istanbul (ARTIAD) Jamal al Din Kareem said that the economic relations between Qatar and Turkey grew especially after the Gulf crisis. Turkish exports to Doha increased by about 15 percent last July, and mutual investments between the two countries rose to more than $35bn.
