Ambassador of Qatar to Georgia, H E Mubarak bin Nasser Al Khalifa.
Tbilisi: Ambassador of Qatar to Georgia, H E Mubarak bin Nasser Al Khalifa has said that an agreement between Qatar and Georgia to enhance and protect investments will be soon signed.
“Soon a joint agreement between two countries aimed at enhancing and protecting bilateral investments will be finalized for which discussions are underway,” he said while talking to a group of Doha-based journalists including The Peninsula which visited Georgia on a tour organized by Georgian National Tourism Administration and Embassy of Georgia in Qatar.
Giorgi Chogovadze, Head of Georgian National Tourism Administration was also present in the meeting.
The Ambassador said that Qatar and Georgia had good cooperation and had already signed a number of agreements. He said that the volume of current Qatari investments in Georgia was not very big “but they are on a steady growth”.
He said that there was scope of investment in Georgia’s agriculture sector. The ambassador said that Qatar was importing fruits and vegetables from Georgia and Qatar was benefiting from those imports in post siege scenario. “There exist direct import line between Qatar and Georgia,” he added.
From April 1 to 4, 2014, a delegation from Qatar Chamber visited Georgia to participate in Qatar-Georgia Business Forum. On June 13, 2014, a representative from Qatar Investment Authority attended the International Investment Conference between Georgia and European Union which was held in Tbilisi.
A delegation comprising Georgian businessmen led by President of the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nino Chikovani visited Doha in October 2016 in which investment opportunities in key sectors of Georgia like tourism, real estate, energy, construction and agriculture were highlighted, the group of media persons was informed.
So far, 12 agreements and MoUs have been signed between Qatar and Georgia since 2009. Trade cooperation between two countries is also growing with the passage of time. Trade exchange between Qatar and Georgia increased 81 percent, $1.05m from January to August 2017, compared to the same period in 2016. A total of $850,000 trade exchange was recorded in 2016.
The Ambassador further said that Georgia was among those 80 countries whose citizens could avail visa-on-arrival in Qatar. “In the same manner, Qatari citizens and residents as well get on arrival visa in Georgia. Qatari nationals get one year stay visa while the residents are granted three-month stay visa on arrival in Georgia.”
Number of flights between Doha and Tbilisi are 14 per week currently (seven directly and similar number of indirect flights). Seven direct flights are expected to be added from June 1 this year totaling 21 flights weekly.
The Ambassador said that Georgia had many facilities and incentives for foreign investors and Georgia was also classified as a safe country. To a question, he said that Georgia’s position on ongoing blockade of Qatar was supporting the resolution of crisis through dialogue. The ambassador also praised interfaith harmony in Georgia.
