Doha, March 12 (QNA) - HE Qatar Chamber's Chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al-Thani , affirmed that the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 enhances the country's position as a leading global destination for business and investment, in light of the attractive legislative, regulatory and institutional environment and advanced infrastructure.

His Excellency expected, in an exclusive interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), that the national economy will continue its growth and development after the country hosts the tournament, especially after the great leaps it has achieved over the past years, in light of the presence of attractions that enhance its growth process and increase global confidence.

His Excellency added that the results from this hosting do not depend on the sports aspects only, but there are other aspects that are no less important, especially the economic aspects, as the hosting drew the world's attention to the State of Qatar, and attention will turn more during the period of holding the global event during the months of November and December and this will provide the opportunity for investors and businessmen from different countries of the world to get to know the State of Qatar and its economy, and to discover the investment climate and the available opportunities, which will enhance the Qatari economy, and contribute to attracting more foreign investments to the country, in addition it will enhance the status of the country as a leading global center for business and investment.

In response to a question about the most prominent growth drivers that will be focused on after 2022, His Excellency indicated that many sectors will be developed, such as tourism, knowledge economy, agriculture, industry, and other important sectors.

His Excellency added, that the country's expansion in LNG production coincides with an expected growth of the economy in all sectors, especially vital sectors such as education, health care, construction, food security, technology and others.

His Excellency stressed the positive repercussions of Qatar World Cup on the Qatari private sector, especially the tourism and trade sectors, which will witness significant growth in addition to attracting more investors, noting that restaurants, hotels, tourist resorts, stadiums and sports facilities will have a major role in attracting tourists over the years subsequent to the organization of the World Cup, and will constitute an important source of income for the state.

His Excellency expected that the State of Qatar will witness during the coming period strong foreign cash and investment flows, as a result of positive indicators in light of the economic developments the world is witnessing, which contributes to stimulating business at the local market level in addition to strengthening the foundations of high confidence among foreign investors in the Qatari economy, which it will enhance Qatar's achievement of very high growth indicators that qualify it to achieve the highest levels of economic growth.

With regard to the states support for the private sector, His Excellency said that the state has gone beyond the issue of encouragement and support, and is working to remove all obstacles for the private sector to play its hoped-for role in development, praising the great support provided by Qatar to various economic sectors during the Coronavirus pandemic in order to alleviate the impact of the crisis on the business sectors.

His Excellency added, that we appreciate the attention and tangible care of the state towards providing opportunities for the private sector and removing all obstacles to play its hoped-for role in development, in addition to providing a set of incentives that continued even in conjunction with Coronavirus through the financial support package estimated at QR 75 billion to help the private sector overcome repercussions of the pandemic.

His Excellency pointed out that the government's stimulus comes in light of Qatar National Vision 2030's interest in the private sector, through diversifying sources of income and not relying on oil and gas resources, expanding support and support for the private sector and improving the business environment, as well as the policies of economic openness and investment promotion pursued by the state, which contributed to the increase in investments and the growth of the private sector and the expansion of its contribution to development.

Speaking to QNA, His Excellency said that expectations indicate that non-oil activities will witness a growth rate of 2.8 percent to 4.7 percent this year, based on the expectations of the boom in activities related to hosting the World Cup, noting that non-oil activities achieved an average growth of about 2.9 percent during the first nine months of 2021 supported by the growth of the manufacturing, transport and trade sectors, where manufacturing industries alone represent 8 percent of real GDP.

On the mechanisms of increasing the private sectors contribution to the GDP, His Excellency explained in his interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), that the sectors contribution has witnessed great development and growth over the past years. This is evidenced by the volume of its exports, which according to the certificates of origin issued by Qatar Chamber during the first ten months of the year 2021 amounted to about QR 23.2 billion, an increase of more than 88 percent compared to the same period of the year 2020, when it amounted to about QR 12.3 billion.

His Excellency stressed that the partnership between the public and private sectors, which was reinforced by the Partnership Law that was issued two years ago, directly contributes to increasing the contribution of the private sector to the GDP, as it is a true partner of the public sector in the development process witnessed by the state, as well as other laws issued between 2018 and 2019 that contributed to enhancing the role of the private sector, such as the law on non-Qatari ownership and use of real estate, and the law on investing non-Qatari capital in economic activity.

In response to a question about the competitive capabilities of private sector institutions, His Excellency indicated that the Qatari market is witnessing great openness, and the ability of companies and industrial institutions to compete is a matter that requires a lot of effort and perseverance and injecting more investments, noting in this context the importance of efforts to support the competitiveness of the national product in a way that it does not result in monopolistic practices, especially in the presence of the competition protection committee and the prevention of monopolistic practices.

Regarding the most prominent economic sectors in which the private sector can compete and enhance the state's exports, His Excellency stressed that the private sector was able to prove its presence and achieve great successes in many vital and important sectors, and that exports reached many markets around the world.

His Excellency said that the manufacturing sector was considered one of the leading sectors of the private sector, especially with the existence of a law to support the competitiveness of national products, as well as the services sector, trade and industry, as well as the building and construction sector, with a noticeable interest in the field of agriculture and food, within the framework of the state's keenness to enhance food security.

His Excellency said there is no doubt that the role played by the exhibition Made in Qatar organized by Qatar Chamber contributes greatly to the promotion of Qatari products outside the country, after organizing 4 editions of the exhibition in Qatar during the years from 2009 to 2015, we implemented a new strategy to organize the exhibition outside Qatar to promote Qatari industries and products in foreign markets, three foreign editions were organized in Saudi Arabia 2016, Oman 2018, and Kuwait 2020, interspersed with the 2017 edition in Qatar. The exhibition achieved great success in promoting Qatari products in these sisterly countries.

His Excellency denied that the scarcity of land is one of the obstacles that limit the establishment of projects and the reluctance of businessmen to invest, pointing out that this problem has been overcome with the presence of free zones, as well as the presence of storage areas, industrial areas and logistic areas, distributed in 11 regions in the north and south.

On his assessment of the new investment law and the opportunity for foreigners to invest freely in the Qatari market, HE Qatar Chamber's Chairman stressed that the law provided wide facilities and a set of incentives and exemptions for investors, which contributed to attracting more capital, activating markets, reviving many areas and updating the map of foreign investments in the country and the opening new areas for investment.

He added that the law opened the door for foreign investors to enter into many areas that were restricted in the previous law, in which the percentage of non-Qatari ownership was not more than 49%, pointing in the same context to the role of partnerships established by Qatari businessmen with their counterparts from different countries of the world to establish projects in Qatar.

In response to a question about the extent to which Qatari companies benefit from such partnerships, His Excellency stressed, in his interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), that working with international and foreign companies according to the correct foundations contributes to supporting the national economy, enriching the private sector arena with expertise and knowledge, and enabling it in the near future to promote on its own the establishment of projects in various fields inside or outside Qatar.

His Excellency enumerated the areas for the private sector to benefit from these partnerships, especially in the industrial and investment fields, which reflected positively on the performance and development of the private sector, pointing out that the private sector currently owns large and global projects through successful partnerships with foreign companies.

His Excellency pointed out that Qatari companies were able to benefit from the expertise and technologies provided by international companies in implementing development projects in Qatar, whether currently or in the future.

In this context, HE Qatar Chamber's Chairman stated that the Chamber plays a pivotal role in the success of the alliances that are established between Qatari companies and their foreign counterparts, by receiving foreign delegations from all countries, organizing visits to different countries, and meetings between Qatari and foreign businessmen, allowing the local investor forging partnerships with foreign companies that have their own reputation and pioneering experiences.

On the great financial and economic support provided by the state to the private sector in light of the Coronavirus pandemic, which is estimated at QR 75 billion, and its impact on the performance of various economic sectors, especially the private sector, His Excellency stressed in his interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), that various Qatari economic sectors and private sector institutions have benefited from this financial package, and the subsequent measures adopted by the state in order to mitigate the impact of the crisis on the private sector and help it overcome the repercussions of the pandemic.

His Excellency stressed that this package confirms the state's keenness to support the private sector as a partner in the development process, as well as confirming the efficiency of the Qatari health sector and its great ability to confront the pandemic, noting that certainly, this package contributed to stimulating the private sector, supporting the business environment, and improving to bring economic activity back to pre-pandemic levels, revive trade movement, as well as return the wheel of national production to its normal rates in many local productive sectors that were affected by the precautionary measures against the spread of the Coronavirus.

His Excellency revealed the existence of a study that the Qatar Chamber worked on to monitor the effects and damages to the non-oil economic sectors during the Coronavirus pandemic, and said, that the measures and incentives provided by the state had a direct impact in mitigating and limiting those damages.

On the interaction of the private sector with the self-sufficiency policies drawn up by the state, His Excellency referred to the great achievements made by the state in the field of food security and self-sufficiency as a result of the implementation of several national strategic projects, which represented a significant increase in agricultural production and food processing.

His Excellency said that these projects contributed to raising the rate of self-sufficiency in a number of different commodities, which clearly shows the role of the private sector, which helped implement these policies and food projects, and which contributed to achieving high self-sufficiency rates of products such as vegetables, dairy, table eggs, fish and red meat, chicken, dates, and others.

His Excellency pointed out that the National Food Security Strategy proposed many initiatives and economic stimulus programs for the private sector, to work on raising the efficiency of food production, raising self-sufficiency rates, securing food supplies and ensuring their safety, developing investment in the agricultural field, and providing guarantees for the private sector to invest in this field.

In this context, His Excellency noted that 10 strategic projects for breeding and fattening local sheep and goats during the past year were put forward to the private sector to support self-sufficiency in red meat.

In his assessment of labor market reforms, His Excellency stressed that the state has been able to make great strides in strengthening the labor market and ensuring the rights of expatriate workers, and has adopted many labor reforms and legislation that have been praised by everyone, led by the International Labor Organization, human rights groups and United Nations organizations, making the State of Qatar a pioneer in the region with regard to labor market reforms.

His Excellency said that the state had recently adopted many reforms, including abolishing the sponsorship system, canceling exit visas for residents, allowing employees to change their workplace freely without requesting a no-objection certificate from the employer, setting a minimum wage, establishing a workers support and insurance fund, and adopting a workplace inspection policy and regulations, occupational safety and health according to international standards and other pioneering reforms.

His Excellency pointed to the appreciation of the private sector for these reforms, which contributed greatly to the State of Qatar's attainment of a prominent position globally in this regard.

In his answer to a question about the Chamber's relationship with entrepreneurs, and the mechanisms of support provided to this category of young investors, His Excellency stressed in his interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), the Chamber's great efforts to support and motivate entrepreneurs and encourage them to invest in all fields, and to adopt innovative ideas in projects that benefit the national economy.

His Excellency pointed out that the Chamber adopted "Maan" (Together) initiative in cooperation with Qatar University and Qatar Development Bank to support entrepreneurs projects, as well as through the "Best Creative Ideas for Entrepreneurs" competition, and that the Chamber, in cooperation with these entities, provided support to five startup companies that won the award out of 50 innovative ideas for business.

His Excellency stated that the Chamber provides support to entrepreneurs, home project owners and productive families by providing the opportunity to promote their products through exhibitions organized by the Chamber or participating in them, especially "Made in Qatar" exhibition.

His Excellency stated that the Chamber organized three sessions of Qatar Chamber SME Conference, which sheds light on supporting entrepreneurs and developing small and medium enterprises by reviewing the experiences of friendly countries such as Turkey, Germany and Britain.

His Excellency also referred to the Chamber's organization of forums, workshops and training courses that contribute to introducing entrepreneurs to the information, available opportunities and laws of interest to emerging companies.

On the extent to which the private sector in Qatar has benefited from the free trade agreements signed by the state, such as the Greater Arab Free Trade Area Agreement, His Excellency indicated that the latter, which was launched in 1998 with a 10% customs reduction, and reached in 2005 to liberalize it is considered one of the important tools that seek to achieve economic integration among Arab countries.

His Excellency continued, that the Greater Arab Free Trade Area has contributed to increasing the rate of inter-Arab trade, although it is still below the level of our ambitions, and Qatar, as a member state of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area Agreement, has its private sector benefited from this agreement in exporting its goods and merchandise to other countries.

His Excellency concluded his interview with Qatar News Agency, by evaluating the presence of the Qatar Chamber in the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris and its repercussions on the Chambers performance, which he described as strong, similar to most international bodies and joint chambers with Arab and foreign countries, where the Chamber participates in all events organized by these bodies by attending international conferences, exhibitions and forums.

His Excellency said that this presence helps the Chamber in promoting the Qatari economy externally, and promoting the opportunities available in the country to these bodies and institutions, as well as informing the Qatari side participating in external events about the opportunities available for investment in those countries.

His Excellency also noted that this distinguished presence contributes to the exchange of ideas, experiences and opinions and the role that the Chamber must play to serve its members and provide the best services to its members, as well as an opportunity for communication, knowledge exchange, and strengthening relations of cooperation and partnership. (QNA)