Turkey, Qatar can easily reach $5B in trade: Qatari official

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey and Qatar have a strategic partnership and a great potential, and their bilateral trade volume can easily reach $5 billion by 2025, a Qatar Development Bank (QDB) official said.

Speaking after a Qatar-Turkey Matchmaking Event last week, Hamad Salem Mejegheer, executive director of the QDB's Export Development and Promotion Agency, told Anadolu Agency that leaders and societies of the two countries desire to bring economic and trade relations to higher levels, there are possibility and potential for this target.

The two-day forum, organized by consultancy firm Grant Thornton, discussed new avenues of trade and the expansion of existing business between Qatari and Turkish entrepreneurs was held in Istanbul.

Citing current bilateral trade figure of $1.9 billion in 2020, he stressed: "We have possibility for $5 billion target because Qatari companies conduct high quality and world class production activities and their products will be demanded in Turkey and its neighbors.

"Turkey is also a well-developed country in many fields such as technology and production, Turkish firms will find an opportunity to enter Qatar and its neighboring markets."

"$5 billion bilateral trade target is not an irrational goal, it can be reached easily," he added.

Turkey and Qatar have historical deep relations, Qatari companies can benefit from Turkey's industrial and technologic development, Mejegheer noted.

Saying that Turkey has a strategic and important location, as a bridge for its neighboring countries' markets, he underlined Qatari firms will have opportunity to enter Turkey's neighboring markets.

Mentioning the forum, he stressed as a result of the event, both countries' firms will reach agreements and contribute to the two countries' economies.

- Different sectors

Aziz Hatipagaoglu, a partner at Grant Thornton, said Turkey and Qatar's bilateral trade volume is around $2 billion annually, and natural gas and oil takes a significant part of this amount.

"We try to develop this trade relations in different sectors," he said.

Touching on the forum, he expressed that 15 Qatari firms joined the meeting from eight different sectors, which were defined through 1.5 years of studies with 75 Turkish companies.

Dozens of sectors were analyzed and defined eight Turkish sectors -- such as chemical, information technologies and medical -- in which Qatari firms can be active, he added.

"We will monitor both two sides for a six-month period after the event and we expect a trade volume of $500 million at the beginning of 2023 thanks to this event," he stressed.

Qatari companies do not only aim to enter the Turkish market, they also target to make investment and establish permanent relations, which will be beneficial for the both sides, he underlined.

He added that at the second phase, probably in 2023, another study will be conducted for more specific steps for more extensive targets.