Ambassador of Italy to Qatar H E Alessandro Prunas at the Italian pavilion at AgriteQ & EnviroteQ Qatar 2022
Qatar is a promising market and the country has placed itself as a hub within the region where companies can operate to expand their businesses, said the Ambassador of Italy to Qatar H E Alessandro Prunas.
Speaking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of the 9th Qatar International Agricultural Exhibition (AgriteQ) and the 3rd International Environmental Exhibition (EnviroteQ), he said “Qatar is increasing its work on agriculture and Italian companies can help with this innovation of agriculture. We are very interested about this exhibition because Italy is one of the big players in the production of agricultural machines.
“This is the second time we are participating in AgriteQ and EnviroteQ exhibition. Last year we had a virtual presence because of the pandemic and we had a broad representation of companies from different sectors such as environmental technology, satellite technology for surveillance, machineries, water management. This year it is more focused on agricultural machineries, we are doing this with FederUnacoma, which is the Italian Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Federation. We have five companies that will bring solutions for agricultural needs of harsh environment of Qatar,” he added.
Trade volume between the two countries has been large Prunas explained. The trade volume of agricultural and horticultural mechanical appliances between Qatar and Italy in 2021 increased by 28.7 percent compared to 2020. Therefore, the machinery federation decided to come here because there was a spike of 28.7 percent last year, in exchange of these products. Italy is right now the third country among Qatar’s supplying countries for this type of machineries. Floriculture products and live plants imports from Italy increased 23 percent compared to 2020.
The ambassador highlighted that Qatar is a small but an ambitious country as it has a dairy farming industry which not only supplies for the local market but also exports the dairy products. This tells the magnitude of the ambition of the Qatari authorities when it comes to agricultural self-sufficiency. “It is a promising market and we have the technical solutions and expertise. We would gladly like to trade with Qatar and expand our exports here,” he said.
Speaking about organic products, the envoy noted that Italy has the largest organic production in Europe. “We have a large expertise in organic farming which we are already sharing with Qatar and are more than willing to continue sharing.”
“We have many programs with Qatar in research and link up our scientific institutions with Qatar Foundation’s Qatar Environment & Energy Research Institute (QEERI) and there are already some talks with Italian research institutes. The aim is to help finding environmental solutions and agriculture,” Prunas said.
Elaborating about Qatar being a promising market the Ambassador said, “Qatar is a promising market not just for the local market but as the platform for the region as well which is an important aspect to be analysed for our companies. After the end of the blockade, Qatar has placed itself as a hub within the region where companies can operate to expand their business. So, it’s not just the local market that is interesting but also the positioning of Qatar as a logistical hub and as a platform to reach other markets.”
“It is a growing exhibition which is clear indication of how much the Qataris are interested in agriculture and environmental solutions. It is looking very promising and we will continue partnering with Qatar on these matters,” Prunas added.
