Qatar, Egypt to boost trade ties

SATYENDRA PATHAK

DOHA

LEADERS of the Qatar- Egypt business council, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and Qatar Chamber Chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed al Thani discussed trade and economic relations between the two countries, in Doha on Wednesday.

Speaking on the occasion, Sheikh Khalifa said the Egyptian president’s presence had complemented our shared efforts to support and strengthen commercial, economic and investment relations between two countries.

The Qatar Chamber also stressed the need for Egyptian businesses to invest in Qatar. “Qatar has great potential and offers promising investments possibilities,” he said.

“Egypt is a great country with a long history of accomplishments in all sectors.

We call on our fellow Egyptian businessmen to share their expertise and invest in Qatar,” he said.

“In April 2011, we announced the establishment of an Egyptian company with a capital of 500 million Egyptian pound to create an agro-industrial zone in an area of 20,000 acres in the desert of Egypt, as a contribution to achieve food self sufficiency in Egypt,” he said.

The joint business council has announced many projects between the two countries, in addition to other individual initiatives to establish projects in both countries.

The council also brought together businessmen from the two countries to address the obstacles facing the investors. Reposing faith in Egypt’s economy, the council hoped that Egypt’s economy will recover and will flourish once again.

“We have full faith in our Egyptian brothers and in their work. We hope that this forum will result in successful investments in both countries,” Sheikh Khalifa said.

He praised Egypt’s role it plays to support Arab issues, pointing out that Egypt is and will always be the beating heart of the Arab world.

“Since the first days of the Egyptian revolution, Qatar urged the world community to help Egypt to have a bright future, therefore, Qatar has announced at the beginning of the revolution its support to the Egyptian economy by having joint projects with Egypt worth $10 billion,” he said.