Qatar-Brazil ties strengthened with trade expansion cooperation

Qatar-Brazil ties strengthened with trade expansion cooperation

HE the Minister of Commerce and Industry Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari, together with Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, participated in a joint roundtable discussion regarding the thriving business environment and investment landscape of the two countries.

The roundtable was organised by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), which included esteemed guests and Qatari officials. The ties between the two countries have enjoyed 45 years of fruitful and friendly Qatari-Brazilian relations, which includes a healthy bilateral trade that amounted to an estimated $575mn last year. In the first half of 2019 alone, the partnership has yielded 385mn—not surprising coming from Qatar’s 28th largest trading partner.

In line with this, the discussion stressed the significance of protecting mutual investments and guarding vigilantly against tax evasion. It is also a good move to strengthen the Qatari-Brazilian Joint Committee for a continuing dialogue between the Qatari and Brazilian governments in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030 and the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup. Further developments include Qatar’s commendable efforts to open its economy on a more global scale, with allowing foreign investors up to 100% ownership as well as boosting the diversification of the country’s national economy. All these are demonstrated in the policies of the Second National Development Strategy 2018-2022.

Furthermore, the modernisation of infrastructure and the enhancement of both the Hamad Port and Qatar Airways bolster trade even further with plenty of partners all over the world. These developments further pave the way for more successful investment partnerships with foreigners that have the same shared objectives.

Agreements were discussed and signed regarding the following:

• Mutual exemption of entry visas
• Air services
• Cooperation on various international events and health-related fields
• Diplomatic training
• Memorandums on the defence ministries of both countries

With these agreements and partnerships on agribusiness, infrastructure, defence, energy, and science and technology, the bilateral relations between the two nations will be further deepened and the economic cooperation strengthened to benefit both parties for more and more years to come. These will not only build the framework for cementing the friendship between Brazil and Qatar, but will also improve the capabilities of both governments to address regional and global topics that can lead to higher growth rates and investment capacities.