(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
Doha: Qatar and Mali are exploring investment opportunities between the two countries, with a potential Qatari-Mali Economic Forum currently being studied to connect businessmen from both sides, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Mali H E Shugel Maiga has said.
Speaking after his meeting with the Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA) headed by QBA Chairman Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, the Prime Minister said discussions during the event revolved around the possibility of organising a joint economic forum in the presence of businessmen of the two countries and the sponsorship of the two countries' governments to review all investment opportunities available in Mali and Qatar.
Sheikh Faisal reiterated that the QBA is ready to explore the investment opportunities in Bamako.
The meeting organised by the QBA was also attended by Hussein Ibrahim Al Fardan, QBA First Deputy, Saud Al Mana, QBA Board Member, and Sarah Abdallah, QBA Deputy GM.
From Mali, the Economic Advisor to the President Asimi Gueta, and the Head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Mali Youssef Bathili, and the Economic Advisor to the Parliament were also present.
The Malian Prime Minister discussed the opportunities offered by his country to Qatari investors, which include the agricultural sector, where Mali provides about 2 million hectares of fertile land, in addition to the infrastructure, energy, healthcare, mining and tourism sectors.
Maiga also stressed that Mali ranks first in Africa in cotton production, and it exploits only 2 percent in manufacturing industries, which makes this sector important for foreign investments and the transformation of this field into textiles, as there is a huge market in West Africa consisting of 350 million consumers. He also referred to the mining sector, especially gold, where Mali is one of the richest African countries in this sector.
During the meeting, Sheikh Faisal spoke about the need to identify the productive sectors offered by the Malian government to the Qatari private sector, and which do not compete with the Malian businessmen. He also welcomed Mali's invitation to visit and explore investment opportunities in the capital, Bamako.
Sheikh Faisal also indicated that the QBA aims to translate Qatar's foreign vision as members are interested in exploring global markets and are fully prepared to study investment opportunities in the Republic of Mali.
Also speaking during the event, Al Fardan pointed to the importance of the Prime Minister's visit to the QBA office, which contributes to strengthening mutual relations of cooperation between both countries, as it sheds light on investment opportunities that could attract Qatari businessmen.
He also noted that QBA supports Qatar's approach to strengthening cooperation with all countries of the world in line of its plans for economic diversification and the establishment of investments outside the country. He explained that Qatar is interested in increasing its investments in Africa, stressing QBA's support of this direction and readiness to encourage Qatari business investors to invest in Mali and take advantage of these opportunities.
According to Al Mana, there are distinguished relations between Qatar and Mali, and there are reciprocal visits at the level of the leaderships of both countries. He added that stability is important for launching private projects, stressing that the association will study the projects proposed by the Malian government and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, consequently the potential investment opportunities will be identified.
Mali controls a significant stock of natural resources and minerals, placing it among the most important African countries in production and stocks, most notably uranium, gold, phosphate, salt, granite, kaolin represented by a pure white clay material, limestone, and bauxite.
Mali ranks third in Africa in terms of gold production with 61.63 tonnes after Ghana and South Africa, and despite its vast desert area that covers over 60 percent of its total area, Mali is one of the African countries rich in agricultural crops and livestock.
It is also worth noting that Mali's exports exceed 2.5 billion dollars, the majority of which are to China, Malaysia, Indonesia and India, while their imports range to about 2.9 billion dollars, with France taking the lead, then Senegal, Ivory Coast and China.
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