Doha: Qatar sees the best potential in expanding its footprint in United States and looks forward in continuing to expand its solid partnership. The collaboration between California Mobility Center and Qatar Mobility Innovations Centre supports Qatar’s efforts to create new partnerships between Qatari and American companies and attract tech startups and talents, said a senior official during an online event.
US-Qatar Business Council (USQBC) in collaboration with the World Trade Center of Northern California, the Office of the Commercial Attaché at the Qatari Embassy in Washington, DC; and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce presented a virtual event entitled ‘California-Qatar Smart Technology Business Opportunities’ which shed light on the latest developments and opportunities in Qatar’s sustainable economy, the smart mobility partnership between Qatar Mobility Innovations Center and California Mobility Center, and how Qatar is working to boost its commercial ties with the State of California.
Mansour Al Sulaitin, Consul General of the State of Qatar in Los Angeles said: “I would like to reinforce that there is already a thriving relationship between Qatar and California and Qatar has great desire to forge even greater commercial trade and investment partnership with California over the next years. With FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 around the corner - the world’s first carbon neutral championship, we anticipate even a greater opportunity to expand our thriving partnership going forward”.
This year holds a special meaning for the United States and Qatar as it marks the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between both the countries. In 2008 Qatar adopted the Qatar National Vision 2030 and ambitious 20 years strategy to build a competitive and global integrated knowledge-based economy. This strategy aims to transform the country into advanced society capable of achieving sustainable development.
Al Sulaitin noted that today Qatar is a global hub providing access to global markets in Africa, Asia and Europe representing 2 billion consumers and $6 trillion in GDP. “The United States has been a key partner in Qatar’s development. While Qatar’s economy has initially been based on hydrocarbon production and it has hosted some of the largest American oil and gas companies. However, thanks to our country’s wise leadership and partnership with American companies – our economy has diversified across the spectrum of industries,from financial service to health and agriculture and many more,” he said.
“Today, the Qatar-US commercial relationship represents more than $200bn in values across wide varieties of industries. With more than 850 American companies now operating in Qatar, the United States is Qatar’s largest foreign investor with $110.6bn in foreign direct investment. The US is also Qatar’s largest trading partner and the largest single source of export to Qatar with $6.5bn exported in 2019. However, this is not a one-way commercial relationship as Qatar is also increasing investment through Qatar Investment Authority and has pledged over $45bn over the coming years. Several key investments have already been made across multiple sectors including oil and gas infrastructure, aerospace, financial technology, real estate, food, production, healthcare, green energy, entertainment, and hospitality among others,” he added
Also addressing the event, Fahad Al Dosari, Commercial Attaché of the State of Qatar to the United States noted that today Qatar is ranked among the top countries in adapting Information and Communications technology. Smart cities and mobility technologies, financial services, AI, and cloud computing are becoming integral to the economy.
Al Dosari said: “We expect the tech sector to grow rapidly over the next few years offering tremendous opportunities to US tech companies of all sizes. The collaboration between California Mobility Center and Qatar Mobility Innovations Centre supports Qatar’s efforts to create new partnerships between Qatari and American companies and attract tech startups and talents”.
“We reformed our legal framework, modernised our ICT infrastructure and created special zones to support the growth of the tech sector, as a result more than two-thirds of Qatar’s GDP was generated outside the hydrocarbon sector in the first quarter of 2021. ICT spending will reach an estimated $9bn by 2024 at compounded annual growth rate of 9.2 percent, alongside $200bn in government programmes dedicated to investing in technology and attracting FDI and talents from around the world,” he added.
Mohammed Barakat, Managing Director and Treasurer of the Board of Directors at USQBC said: “Our main mission is to increase trade investments, advance the interest of American companies in Qatar and help Qatari entities and business communities find opportunities in United States or with American companies”. Emily Desai, Deputy Director of International Affairs and Trade at the Governor of California’s Office of Business and Economic Development, Dr. Adnan Abu Dayya, Executive Director, Qatar Mobility Innovations Center, Kevin Mather, President of the World Trade Center of Northern California, and Mark Rawson, Chief Operating Officer, California Mobility Center also participated in the event.
