(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Mohammad Shoeb / The Peninsula
DOHA: With the fast growing cooperation between Qatar and Turkey in all fields, including, trade, investment, culture and tourism, the number of Qataris visiting Turkey over the last six months jumped to over 46,000, according to top official of Qatar Chamber (QC).
The sharp rise in the number of outbound tourists from Qatar to Turkey is understandably due to the ongoing blockade against the country, as more and more citizens and residents are travelling to friendly country for businesses and leisure trips.
The bilateral cooperation between Qatar and Turkey has been growing fast and steadily over the last few years, but after the imposition of unjust blockade against Qatar by Saudi-led Arab quartet in early June last year, the trade exchange, B2B meetings and people to people contact has witnessed a phenomenal growth.
'Trade exchange between the two countries has been growing consistently, but over the last 7-8 months, especially after the siege, it has witnessed sharp growth. And over the last four months, imports from Turkey has jumped by 30 percent compared to the same period last year, Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani, Chairman of QC told The Peninsula on the sidelines of an event recently.
Sheikh Khalifa added: 'It's not only trade exchange which is growing rapidly, Qatar's investments in Turkey are also growing fast, especially in the banking, real estate and some other industries.
The bilateral trade volume in 2017 touched QR3.9bn, which is expected to cross over QR7bn in 2018. As Qatar is working aggressively to achieve self-sufficiency, especially in terms of food and other essentials, the Qatar-Turkey cooperation is set to deepen and strengthen every passing day.
Some 205 Turkish companies, which include almost all the major Turkish construction and contracting firms, are already operating in Doha and implementing projects to the tune of QR42.24bn ($11.6bn), most of them infrastructure projects related to 2022 Fifa.
Of these 205 companies, 186 are joint ventures with Qatari partners, whose combined capital is about QR42.02m, while 19 companies are fully owned by Turkish subsidiaries with a total capital of QR62.5m.
Turkish investments in Qatar is also growing and diversifying, which include the industries and services sectors. On the other hand Qatar's investment in Turkey has crossed over $20bn, and still growing. With this massive investment, Qatar has become the second largest investor in Turkey.
Both sides are also working to establish partnerships to invest in some promising sectors in each others' countries.
'We hope that bilateral trade volume will grow more than last year. Registering a 30 percent growth in trade exchange was not very easy to achieve… We will see more investments taking place from both side sides. We are also expecting a new trade agreement to be signed between Qatar and Turkey, which will be a major catalyst to boost bilateral trade volume, Sheikh Khalifa said.
Asked is Qatar planning to export more LNG to Turkey, he said: 'We already have signed agreements with Turks to supply gas, but they have diversified sources of gas import, which include Russia and Iran. But Qatar is ready to meet Turkey's energy demands as and when required.
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