Italy’s Ambassador to Qatar Alessandro Prunas during the launch of the “Week of Italian Cuisine in Qatar” at ambassodor's residence in Doha, yesterday. Pics: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
Trade volume between Qatar and Italy has reached €1.3bn during the first nine months of 2020, with Italian exports to Qatar at €670m, and Qatari exports to Italy valued at €630m, according to official figures released during the launch of the “Week of Italian Cuisine in Qatar” which was held at the residence of Italy’s Ambassador to Qatar, Alessandro Prunas yesterday.
Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Italian food exports to Qatar also increased by 4 percent and stood at €34m during the same period, Italian Trade Commissioner to Qatar Giosafat Rigano’ has said. According to the Ambassador, the partnership between Qatar through the Lulu Hypermarket and Italy’s Italian farmers’ association Coldiretti, played a key role in supporting Italian farmers amid the pandemic. Coldiretti is formed by over 1.5 million Italian farmers.
“It’s important to underline that when you look at food supply, you normally look at huge conglomerates. In this case, this agreement was made with the farmers’ association. We’re looking at the farmer who, in terms of exports, produces very little. So this obviously means that somehow you are spreading the wealth, rather than concentrating it in the hands of a few big players. Espcially in a difficult time like during the pandemic, having this opportunity for small farmers to actually have access to the Qatari market, through this agreement was very important. I’m sure many (Italian farmers) have benefitted from that,” Prunas said while speaking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of the event.
Prunas said Qatar has made a number of important investments in Italy mainly in the luxury and real estate sectors.
“Qatari investors have invested heavily in Milan, Sardinia, as well as in the hotel business. The Qatari investors are expanding in other areas as well. And there is a continuous interest from the Qatari investors to come to Italy. As with tourism, which is a key industry in Italy and accounts for almost 10 percent of our GDP, we will definitely pay a special attention to the Qatari market. We have many promotional plans that are only waiting to be kicked off as soon as possible,” Prunas added.
Italian Trade Commissioner to Qatar, Giosafat Rigano' during the launch of the “Week of Italian Cuisine in Qatar” at ambassodor's residence in Doha, yesterday. Pics: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
Speaking about trade between both countries, Rigano’ said that 60 percent of Italian exports to Qatar consisted of capital goods while 40 percent were consumption goods.
“Italian imports from Qatar are generally in the oil and gas sector. And analysing the trend of the overall exchange between Qatar and Italy during the first nine months of the year, we can see that the more we are approaching the end of the year, the negative valuation due to the pandemic is reducing. And this is a very encouraging sign to further boost trade relations and go ahead with our promotional activities,” he added.
To date, there are about 60 to 70 Italian companies with offices operating in Qatar, said Rigano’.
He added: “Aside from the F&B sector, other sectors such as infrastructure, construction, buildings, and building materials are still the most important, in terms of the number of Italian companies in the country. We are also confident in the potential for the services sector, particularly in relation to the World Cup 2022. But also later on, after the World Cup, there are also opportunities for partnerships in finance and other sectors as well”.
