Qatari-Turkish Trade Amounts to Nearly $1.9Bn in 2020: Al-Khater
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TRADE DEFICIT NARROWS : Page 4 US weekly jobless claims drop; layoff s tumble to 24-year low Friday, September 3, 2021 Muharram 26, 1443 AH INVESTORS CAUTIOUS: Page 2 Asia markets mixed GULF TIMES as recovery fears BUSINESS off set optimism Qatar intensifies efforts to establish sustainable trade and investment deals with Ukraine Buoyed by the 60% surge in trade volume Qatar and Ukraine in the fields such as between Qatar and Ukraine in 2020 industry, agriculture, transportation, despite the pandemic challenges, Doha health, education, science, technology has intensified eff orts to establish “sustain- and culture. able” trade and investment partnerships On the sidelines of the meeting, al- between the private sectors of both the Kuwari signed a protocol amending the countries. agreement between the governments of This was moved by HE Ali bin Ahmed Qatar and Ukraine on the Avoidance of al-Kuwari, Minister of Commerce and Double Taxation and the Prevention of Industry and Acting Minister of Finance, at Fiscal Evasion with respect to taxes on the second session of the Qatari-Ukrainian income. Joint Committee for Economic, Commer- The minister witnessed signing of two cial and Technical Co-operation, which memoranda of understanding between took place in the Ukrainian capital Kiev Widam Food and Baladna on the one side from August 31 until yesterday. and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and “Sustainable” trade and investment Food of Ukraine on the other. partnerships would contribute to further- From the Qatari side, the MoU were ing relations to the level of a “comprehen- signed by Mohamed Badr al-Sada, chair- sive strategic partnership”, as per clear man of Widam Food and vice chairman of frameworks that serve the development Baladna. trends of Qatar and Ukraine, he said, high- The meeting was attended by lighting that at present, 54 joint capital representatives from several govern- Qatari-Ukrainian companies are operating HE al-Kuwari signs a protocol with the Ukrainian representative regarding ment agencies, including the Ministry of in Qatar’s economy. double taxation avoidance. Foreign Aff airs, Ministry of Public Health, The two sides agreed to take the neces- Ministry of Education and Higher Educa- sary steps to move forward in consolidat- made by the Ukrainian government to and logistical operations and services. HE al-Kuwari, along with Ukrainian off icial, at one of the agreements signing. tion, Ministry of Culture and Sports, Qatar ing trade and investment co-operation provide promising investment opportuni- On the domestic economy, al-Kuwari Chamber, Qatar Airways, Qatar Develop- between the two countries, with the aim of ties in several vital sectors, particularly the said Qatar had managed in recent years to growth of about 3% and 4.1% in 2021 and committee’s first session, besides touch- ment Bank, Free Zones Authority, General increasing the volume of transactions and maritime sector, according to al-Kuwari. make “remarkable” progress in the proc- 2022, respectively, despite the repercus- ing on current projects and plans for ex- Tax Authority, the Investment Promo- facilitating the flow of goods, services, and Qatar’s QTerminals has been awarded a ess to attain balanced economic growth. sions of the Covid-19 pandemic. panding them, as well as several issues tion Agency of Qatar, Qatar Investment investments. contract to develop, manage and operate In this regard, he quoted the World The two sides discussed the progress related to enhancing economic, trade Authority, Hassad Food, Widam Food, Qatar was interested in the eff orts Port Olvia which will support navigational Bank report that forecast promising made at the recommendations of the and investment co-operation between Baladna and Nebras Power. Middle Eastern airlines post 74.5% passenger demand Qatari-Turkish trade amounts to drop in July compared to July 2019: IATA nearly $1.9bn in 2020: Al-Khater Middle Eastern airlines posted a 74.5% passenger demand drop in July compared to July 2019, IATA said in its latest report. Capacity declined 59.5%, and load factor HE the Undersecretary at the report had confi rmed the promis- deteriorated 30.1 percentage points to 51.3%. Ministry of Commerce and ing growth prospects for the Qatari IATA said both international and domestic travel de- Industry, Sultan bin Rashid economy (by about 3% and 4.1% in mand showed significant momentum in July compared al-Khater was participating in 2021 and 2022 respectively) despite to June, but demand remained far below pre-pandemic the opening session of the ‘Izmir the repercussions of the Covid-19 levels. Extensive government-imposed travel restrictions Business Days’ forum, taking pandemic. continue to delay recovery in international markets, it place virtually Al-Khater affi rmed Qatar’s par- said. Total demand for air travel in July 2021 (measured ticipation in the 2021 edition of the in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) was down he volume of Qatari-Turkish forum presented an ideal oppor- 53.1% compared to July 2019. This is a “significant im- trade amounted to about tunity to underline Qatar’s com- provement” from June when demand was 60% below T$1.9bn in 2020, despite the mitment, and its fi rm orientation June 2019 levels. economic repercussions of the Cov- towards enhancing international International passenger demand in July was 73.6% id-19 pandemic on international co-operation, according to the below July 2019, bettering the 80.9% decline recorded in trade, said HE the Undersecretary at highest standards of sustainability, June 2021 versus two years ago. the Ministry of Commerce and In- in an endeavour to ensure the well- All regions showed improvement and North Ameri- dustry, Sultan bin Rashid al-Khater. being of all peoples and fulfi l their can airlines posted the smallest decline in international He was participating in the open- aspirations for progress, develop- RPKs (July traff ic data from Africa was not available). ing session of the ‘Izmir Business ment, and prosperity. Total domestic demand was down 15.6% versus Days’ forum, taking place virtually Over the past nine decades, the pre-crisis levels (July 2019), compared to the 22.1% on September 2 and 3 on the side- Izmir International Fair has suc- decline recorded in June over June 2019. Russia posted lines of the 90th edition of the Izmir ceeded in becoming an important the best result for another month, with RPKs up 28.9% International Fair. and diverse platform for exchanging vs. July 2019. Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General said, At the investment level, al- views on global and domestic trends “July results reflect people’s eagerness to travel during Khater pointed out that some 636 in trade and policymaking, as well as the Northern Hemisphere summer. Domestic traff ic Qatari-Turkish joint companies for forging new partnerships. was back to 85% of pre-crisis levels, but international were operating in Qatar, in trade, This year, the fair hosts the sev- demand has only recovered just over a quarter of 2019 contracting, and information tech- enth edition of Izmir Business Days, volumes. The problem is border control measures. nology sectors. themed, ‘Trade and logistics: cir- Government decisions are not being driven by data, Qatar is also home to some 38 cular economy and green deal per- particularly with respect to the eff icacy of vaccines. wholly-owned Turkish companies, spective’. “People travelled where they could, and that was operating in the construction and The forum includes about six primarily in domestic markets. A recovery of inter- industrial sectors. panel discussions, featuring over 30 national travel needs governments to restore the During his speech al-Khater speakers, including ministers, sen- freedom to travel. At a minimum, vaccinated travellers praised the distinguished bond of ior offi cials and other experts from should not face restrictions. That would go a long way fraternity between Qatar and Tur- various countries. to reconnecting the world and reviving the travel and key. This relationship has been es- The sessions address a number of tourism sectors.” He said, “As the Northern Hemisphere tablished under the wise leadership topics, including the future of global summer travel season draws to a close it is clear that too of His Highness the Amir, Sheikh HE the Undersecretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Sultan bin Rashid al-Khater, attending the trade in the post-Covid era under many governments missed the opportunity to apply Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and opening session of the ‘Izmir Business Days’ forum yesterday. recent trends; the circular economy a risk-based approach to managing their borders. The Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of and the European Union’s ‘Green growing number of fully vaccinated travellers and the the Republic of Turkey. path of steady economic growth, vated the private sector to contrib- the Second National Development Deal’; the fate of the agricultural and prevalence of testing provided the chance to restore in- With regard to the Qatari econ- thanks to the eff ective policies es- ute to the process of achieving eco- Strategy 2018-2022. food sectors during the climate cri- ternational connectivity and bring much needed relief to omy, al-Khater stressed that Qatar tablished by its wise leadership. nomic diversifi cation, in line with In this regard, al-Khater pointed sis; as well as marine transportation economies that are heavily reliant on travel and tourism. had succeeded in continuing on its These policies supported and moti-