Brooke Holland, Executive Director of AmCham Qatar
Doha, Qatar: Strategic partnerships between Qatar and the US firms are significant to revatilise the economy, remarked an official.
“I think the commercial ties are very important to us and they are key to what we function as an organisation,” said Brooke Holland, Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar (AmCham Qatar) in an exclusive interview with The Peninsula.
During the fifth annual strategic dialogue between Qatar and the United States held earlier this year, delegates discussed a wide spectrum of topics including investment opportunities in both countries to enhance business-bilateral and economic cooperation.
“One thing I love about the dialogue is that it brings together the private sectors and the government entities from both sides to really talk about what we can do moving forward as a whole. We are already seeing halfway through 2023 a lot of that momentum from the World Cup still propelling us forward and now we are also seeing a shift on Qatar’s future initiative like 2030 vision,” Holland said.
The executive underscored that from AmCham’s point of view, supporting partners like Qatar Financial Centre, Invest Qatar, and US Embassy in Qatar, remains a crucial aspect in terms of exploring investment opportunities.
She explained that “These partnerships are allowing those US companies who want to invest here but don’t know quite the right market or how to go about the process and that’s where we rely on giving them the resources.”
Holland reiterated, “That’s where we as AmCham have that niche of how we help in the success here in Qatar.”
The official also reflects that the US embassy in Qatar is one of the paramount partners, which augments American acquisition opportunities in the country.
“I would say that our relationship and partnership with the Embassy is one of the key components that make us who we are as an organisation,” she said, adding that the US Ambassador to Qatar, H E Timmy T Davis helps in fostering and facilitating US growth with wide open doors and partnership.
Holland stated that the key core of AmCham Qatar’s mission is to facilitate trade, commerce, and investment and to go hand-in-hand to have conversations and spare resources.
As Qatar’s economy remains resilient mainly due to LNG, the executive highlighted that there is huge potential across several sectors that would benefit the US private sector firms.
Holland said that over the past year, lesser-known growth sectors are “pretty robust” and technology firms like Google, Microsoft, and the data centers have been implemented.
However, she outlined that they are transforming into a global tech hub for goods and data privacy space.
“We have some great top-of-the-line western hospitals frankly and there are some great local hospitals as well but when you are specifying in the American private sector, you really do see a lot of Western healthcare focuses as well,” Holland said accentuating the growing healthcare sector.
She also asserted that numerous investments are flowing into the country to establish a well-built health-maintenance presence.
The defence and infrastructure are some of the other industries poised for major growth due to their top-tier initiatives carried out in Qatar.
She also pointed out that the hospitality sector in particular works toward sustainability and global branding.
“Now that you have seen such an influx of hospitality due to the World Cup, you’ve got a massive influx of the sector here and we are curious to know what they are going to do with it now,” Holland added.
AmCham Qatar’s executive also shed light on the upcoming roles and initiatives that the organisation will be implementing to strengthen the American presence across the country.
Towards the end of 2023, AmCham Qatar will carry out corporate social responsibility gala to recognise US firms and their steps in the region.
The entity also plans to implement ministry round tables to discuss issues related to the US private sector and ways to improve their efforts and support Qatar’s economic growth.
