Buoyed by the 60% surge in trade volume between Qatar and Ukraine in 2020 despite the pandemic challenges, Doha has intensified efforts to establish "sustainable" trade and investment partnerships between the private sectors of both the countries.
This was moved by HE Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Acting Minister of Finance, at the second session of the Qatari-Ukrainian Joint Committee for Economic, Commercial and Technical Co-operation, which took place in the Ukrainian capital Kiev from August 31 until Thursday.
"Sustainable" trade and investment partnerships would contribute to furthering relations to the level of a "comprehensive strategic partnership", as per clear frameworks that serve the development trends of Qatar and Ukraine, he said, highlighting that at present, 54 joint capital Qatari-Ukrainian companies are operating in Qatar’s economy.
The two sides agreed to take the necessary steps to move forward in consolidating trade and investment co-operation between the two countries, with the aim of increasing the volume of transactions and facilitating the flow of goods, services, and investments.
Qatar was interested in the efforts made by the Ukrainian government to provide promising investment opportunities in several vital sectors, particularly the maritime sector, according to al-Kuwari.
Qatar’s QTerminals has been awarded a contract to develop, manage and operate Port Olvia which will support navigational and logistical operations and services.
On the domestic economy, al-Kuwari said Qatar had managed in recent years to make "remarkable" progress in the process to attain balanced economic growth.
In this regard, he quoted the World Bank report that forecast promising growth of about 3% and 4.1% in 2021 and 2022, respectively, despite the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The two sides discussed the progress made at the recommendations of the committee's first session, besides touching on current projects and plans for expanding them, as well as several issues related to enhancing economic, trade and investment co-operation between Qatar and Ukraine in the fields such as industry, agriculture, transportation, health, education, science, technology and culture.
On the sidelines of the meeting, al-Kuwari signed a protocol amending the agreement between the governments of Qatar and Ukraine on the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to taxes on income.
The minister witnessed signing of two memoranda of understanding between Widam Food and Baladna on the one side and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine on the other.
From the Qatari side, the MoU were signed by Mohamed Badr al-Sada, chairman of Widam Food and vice chairman of Baladna.
The meeting was attended by representatives from several government agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Ministry of Culture and Sports, Qatar Chamber, Qatar Airways, Qatar Development Bank, Free Zones Authority, General Tax Authority, the Investment Promotion Agency of Qatar, Qatar Investment Authority, Hassad Food, Widam Food, Baladna and Nebras Power.
 
 
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