Dallas seeks robust Qatar-US trade, investment ties, says city official

(MENAFN- Gulf Times)

Officials of the US-Qatar Business Council (USQBC) and Dallas, Texas have met recently to discuss ways of enhancing and expanding investment opportunities between the State of Qatar and the US, USQBC has announced.
This was evident during a business visit to Dallas hosted recently by USQBC. The visit looked to engage key policymakers and the local business community to expand and enhance economic partnerships between Qatar and the State of Texas.
Leading the business visit were Qatar's commercial attaché to the US Fahad al-Dosari and USQBC managing director and treasurer of the board of directors Mohamed Barakat, who both met with Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson to discuss enhancing business ties.
Johnson said:“Dallas is a welcoming city that boasts world-class assets and attractions, and serves as the economic engine of the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States.
“We are also an increasingly international city, and we look forward to working closely with Qatar to deepen our ties and to promote trade and investment between their country and our booming city.”
During the visit, USQBC hosted a business seminar at La Cima Club in Irving, Texas and a private reception at Hotel Crescent Court in Dallas, which provided a platform for participants to network, learn, and explore business opportunities between Texas and Qatar.
“The State of Qatar looks forward to building upon the already flourishing bilateral business relationship with the State of Texas,” said Rashid al-Deheimi, consul general of Qatar to Texas, during the event.
He added:“The event highlighted a number of untapped investment and partnership opportunities between Texas and the State of Qatar, which are pivotal to further integrating the two economies.”
The business seminar comprised several presentations, including al-Dosari's, which delved into Qatar's attractive investment environment for US companies. Barakat, on the other hand, discussed the strength of the US-Qatar business relationship.
Al-Dosari said:“The State of Qatar is committed to expanding the economic partnership with Texas. We look forward to further conversations on how our business communities can work together in areas within and beyond the traditional oil and gas sector, including advanced manufacturing, business and financial services, renewable energy and clean technology, logistics, and defence, among others.”
Barakat added:“Our visit to Texas consolidates and enhances the historical and ever-growing business relationship between Texas and the State of Qatar. There continues to be incredible business synergies and untapped commercial opportunities between the two, and we expect even more investment and trade between them going forward.”
The delegation also visited the John Bunker Sands Wetland Centre with Rosewood Resources Executives for a tour. The Centre focuses on environmental sustainability and is a unique public-private partnership between North Texas Municipal Water District and the Rosewood Corporation to provide education, research, and conservation opportunities pertaining to water reuse and supply, wetland systems, and wildlife habitat.
Environmental sustainability and water conservation are primary concerns for Qatar and this visit highlighted the importance of environmental sustainability, according to the USQBC.

US is Qatar's largest foreign direct investor with $110.6bn total FDI

There is significant overlap between key industries in Qatar and Texas, including oil and gas, defense, financial services, infrastructure, transportation, agriculture, and technology, according to the US-Qatar Business Council (USQBC), which recently hosted a business visit to Dallas, Texas.

Given Qatar's prominence in the energy sector, Texas is a prime partner since it is the largest energy-producing state in the US and had the second-highest state GDP in the US in 2021, the USQBC stated.

The bilateral business ties between the US and Qatar continue to solidify with the total economic relationship between them exceeding“$200bn” as of 2019. The US is Qatar's largest foreign direct investor with a total of“$110.6bn” in FDI and is the largest single source of exports to Qatar at“$6.5bn” in goods in 2019. In the past five years, Qatar has imported over“$23bn” worth of goods from the US, and more than“850” US companies now operate in Qatar.

Qatar has an outstanding relationship with Texas. In the oil and gas industry, QatarEnergy has partnered with ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, McDermott International, Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPC), and Excelerate Energy, all of which are headquartered in Texas.

In 2019, QatarEnergy and CPC announced a joint venture to develop the largest ethylene production plant in the Middle East. The Golden Pass LNG export project is a“$10bn” joint venture between ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy in Sabine, Texas and is expected to be operational in 2024.

Qatar is also an increasingly large investor in the US having pledged over“$45bn” in investments in the coming years, with key investments already having been made across multiple sectors, including oil and gas, financial technology, real estate, food production, and hospitality, among others.

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