Minister of Commerce and Industry H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al Thani during panel discussion, yesterday.
Doha: Qatar is witnessing a significant increase in foreign direct investments (FDI), with the country already recording more than $3bn of FDI inflows to the capital market from the beginning of the year, Minister of Commerce and Industry H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al Thani said yesterday.
Addressing the session on ‘A New Era for Globalisation’ at the Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg, the Minister added that there will be a shift in investments in the region, with more projects attracting international investments.
“In terms of (global foreign direct) investments in 2021, over $1.8 trillion was recorded across the globe, which was 60 percent higher than in 2020. In Qatar, we attracted FDIs of around $1.8bn in 2021. And during this year, we are attracting more than $3bn already, only in capital market. This shows that we are confident as well as changing how we are seeing the world, and we are allocating the funds,” the Minister of Commerce and Industry said.
He added that investors on energy projects were also increasing, alluding to Qatar’s recent announcements of joint investments with leading international energy firms recently.
The Minister reiterated that Qatar values strengthening its trade relations with international partners.
“Previously, international trade in the last 70 years was around 5 percent of the total GDP of the countries. Today, we are standing at 55 percent. Here in Qatar, our country is very dependent on international trade, (90 percent) of our GDP is coming from trade. The world is rewiring. And in Qatar, we’re focusing more on bilateral agreements. I believe many countries around the world are going in that direction of the bilateral system,” he said.
The Minister reiterated that the COVID-19 pandemic tested the resiliency of global economies.
“What we have done in Qatar, we tried to work with international community to make sure there is huge supply of medical goods, and other goods and services. In terms of resiliency, we built resiliency even prior to COVID-19. For example, in food security, we built strong resiliency from 2017. Qatar was considered one of the highest in food security. I believe in the future, the way for us in the region as well, is to make sure that resiliency is strong and try to enable more cooperation with international organisations,” he added.
Also speaking during the session, Global Chairman of PwC Bob Moritz said globalisation needs to be rewired, and economies will need to redesign supply chains with ESG in mind.
“The reality is the benefits of globalisation which have been well regarded and well-founded hit a pause, but the need for interaction amongst the globe and all the stakeholders continues. And supply chain is not only for goods and commodities. It’s also the services and human capital. And we’re also seeing a redesign of the human capital concepts, as we think about the ‘great resignation’ and other elements of it. So there’s a lot of work to be done, but you look for the concept of security, resiliency, and affordability and a redesign of an ESG agenda with it,” Moritz added.
Chairman and CEO of Dogus Group Ferit Sahenk stressed: “Inclusivity is very important. I believe globalisation is here to stay, in a different version. We have to create agility in world organisations like the World Bank, IMF, and United Nations to tackle the issues. We should be prepared to get a collective action, like what we have done during the 2008 financial crisis”.
