DOHA: Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a vital role in further strengthening economic and commercial ties between United States (US) and Qatar, a senior US official said yesterday in a meeting with The American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar (AmCham Qatar).
The chamber yesterday hosted a dialogue with Scott Nathan, the US Department of State’s Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs.
Over 60 members of the American business community attended the event
Nathan discussed the Department of State and the US Government’s role in promoting US business interests in Qatar and the region. He also provided an update on the recent Economic and Investment Dialogue launched between the United States and Qatar especially in the light of the recent announcement by Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani that Qatar will invest $35bn in the US over a course of the next five years:
“My visit to Qatar comes as a follow up of to the our ongoing economic dialogue with Qatar. The key objective of the dialogue is strengthening our economic and commercial ties with Qatar. Small and medium enterprises play a vital role in that process. Regardless of the size, US business are interested (positioned) to better understand the procurement processes in Qatar in order to become more competitive on the local market.
“On the other hand, we want to work with all parties to investigate whether there are ways to mitigate some of the tax issues standing in the way of Qatari investment in the US,” Scott Nathan concluded.
Robert A Hager, Chairman, AmCham Qatar said, “American Chamber of Commerce is delighted to support the economic dialogue and we are working very closely with our partners at the US Embassy in Qatar as well as the US Chamber of Commerce on the matters that concern our members and our Qatari business partners. Our members are engaged on some of the key infrastructure and development projects in Qatar and we hope that the success of this dialogue will result in more American companies setting up businesses in Qatar and especially increase the number of SMEs joining the local economy”
Prior to joining the US State Department as a Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs, Nathan worked in the private investment sector for nearly two decades. As part of his visit to Qatar, Nathan met with government officials and private sector stakeholders in support of bilateral trade and investment.
Representative of the US Chamber of Commerce, Steven Ludes Lutes joined Nathan at the AmCham afternoon dialogue as well.
The Peninsula
