Deal With US Win-Win Washington Offers“Biggest Opportunities And Good Returns” Qatar's Finance Minister

(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Terming the huge deals signed by Doha recently at the US President Donald Trump's visit as "normal", Qatar's Minister of Finance HE Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari on Tuesday said it was a win-win for both the countries.
Highlighting that the "biggest opportunities" are in the US; al-Kuwari said it is a market where the country's sovereign wealth fund, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has been getting "good returns".
He made this remark at the Fifth Qatar Economic Forum, powered by Bloomberg, which got underway here.
Responding to a query regarding $1.2tn deals, including that with Boeing, he said "we are talking about economic partnership and when we talk about economic partnership, it has a win-win situation."
On the deal with Qatar's national carrier, he said this is part of the airline business and the airlines have its own capital and access to finance.
"It's a very normal deal and in line with Qatar Airways' strategies," al-Kuwari said at a panel, where other members were Faisal F al-Ibrahim, Minister of Economy and Planning, Saudi Arabia; and Mehmet Simsek, Minister of Treasury and Finance, Turkiye.
Boeing and GE Aerospace had secured a landmark order from Qatar Airways, a $96bn agreement to acquire up to 210 American-made Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X aircraft powered by GE Aerospace engines. This is Boeing's largest-ever wide-body order and largest-ever 787 order.
On the US, which is the biggest important partner for Qatar; al-Kuwari said "we really value the partnership with the US, and it is very significant."
Qatar's Greenfield investment in the US totaled $3.3bn in 2023, focusing on hotels and tourism, information technology, advanced manufacturing, financial services, and oil and gas.
The US has been enjoying a huge surplus with Qatar for many years, al-Kuwari said.
The US had a $2bn trade surplus with Qatar in 2024 and has had a positive trade balance with Qatar since 2003. In 2024, the US-Qatar trade amounted to $5.64bn with $3.8bn in US exports and $1.8bn in Qatari imports.
To a query on international investment priorities of Qatar, which is ramping up its liquefied natural gas production; al-Kuwari said QIA has its own strategies based on region, based on sectors and the priority areas are technology, AI or artificial intelligence, pharmaceutical and real estate, and the strategies are reviewed periodically.
Asked about the recent trends of weaker oil price and how it would bridge the gap if the price were to stay potentially lower; al-Ibrahim was of the view that the Gulf economies, including Saudi Arabia, are investing in institutional resilience and they will deploy the capital in a way that helps it get these returns but also help them get the momentum to restructure.
"Our budgets are no longer driven by oil. Today they're driven by our priorities," he said, adding on the energy markets and oil, the efforts have been to solve for long-term market stability, guaranteeing that investments will continue to flow to provide the right kind of supply that the global economy needs.
The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries and the economies are "bright spots or jewels" in the global economy today because of the ability to plan and deliver long-term, according to him.
Highlighting that the non-oil sector of the GCC economies had risen 3.7% in 2024, which is almost double the global growth; he said looking at each country's transformation, there's an acknowledgement that they have been, for a while, operating below potential, implying operating at a loss.
"Maybe earlier generations can accept that loss in the short term; but compounded, is not good for future generations," he said, adding it is the reason why Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region took it upon themselves to go for long term restructuring.

MENAFN20052025000067011011ID1109573366