Steve Harper (left), Executive Director, International Business Invest Ni, Invest Northern Ireland (INI), and Noel Johnston, Regional Manager, India, Middle East and Africa, INI, speaking to The Peninsula, at the British Embassy in Doha, yesterday.
Invest Northern Ireland, the economic development agency of the Northern Ireland government is to open an office in Doha to support the further internationalisation of its economy.
The office, located in the British Embassy, will be used as a base to develop trade and investment opportunities and promote Northern Ireland education in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iran.
UK Ambassador, Ajay Sharma added. “I am delighted that the Northern Ireland government recognises the importance of Qatar both as a market in its own right and as a regional hub. This is a great opportunity to complement existing UK trade and investment resources in Doha so we can continue to further our close links with Qatar, which will be showcased through the Qatar-UK Business and Investment Forum next week”.
There will be good representation of Northern Ireland businesses and academia at the Qatar-UK Business and Investment Forum , but what many people don’t know is that Northern Ireland’s engineering innovation and strong research base has been touching the lives of Qataris and international business people every day for many years. Qatar Airways source their aircraft seats from Northern Ireland, where 30 percent of the world’s seats are manufactured and what’s even more astonishing is that nearly every grain of construction sand in Qatar is washed by equipment made in Northern Ireland”.
Noel Johnstonwho will head up Invest Northern Ireland’s new office commented: ‘I’m really happy to be here in Qatar and am looking forward to taking up my new role. I’m conscious of the huge potential the Qatari market offers Northern Ireland companies and I am keen to get started and help them realise this.’
