The Qatari Businessmen Association meets with the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ebrahim Raisi

Raisi: The Importance of activating the Iranian Commercial House and raising the trade exchange to one billion dollars
Sheikh Mohammed bin Qassim Al Thani: The beginning of a series of meetings for joint projects
Reda Fatemi: We are working closely to overcome trade challenges to develop cooperation
Sheikh Faisal: The Iranian market is rich with opportunities, and we are working on developing relations
Al-Fardan: We welcome Iranian investments in Doha, and there are potential investments 

Doha
His Excellency President Ebrahim Raisi, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, discussed the importance of activating the Iranian Commercial House in Qatar as soon as possible, aiming to raise the trade exchange between the two countries to one billion dollars, as a translation of the will of the two brotherly countries. This was during a special meeting organized by the Qatari Businessmen Association with his Excellency and the accompanying delegation on the sidelines of the visit of the Iranian delegation participating in the 6th summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.
The meeting was attended by the members of the Qatari Businessmen Association headed by His Excellency Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani and their counterparts from the Republic of Iran. The meeting was also attended by His Excellency Sheikh / Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al Abdullah Al Thani, Minister of Commerce and Industry of the State of Qatar, as well as His Excellency Minister Hussain Amir Abdollahian, Minister of The Iranian Foreign Ministry, His Excellency Mr. Seyed Reza Fatemi Amin, Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade, Mr. Ali Reza Peyman Pak, Head of Commercial Development, and Mr. Adnan Musa Pour, President of the Iranian-Qatari Joint Chamber of Commerce.

From the Qatari Businessmen Association, the meeting was attended by Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani, QBA Chairman, Mr. Hussein Al Fardan, first deputy to the Chairman, and from QBA Board Members: Mr. Sherida Al Kaabi, Sheikh Nawaf Bin Nasser, Mr. Saud Al Mana’, attended the meeting. Also, from QBA members: Mr. Nasser Al-Haider, Mr. Khalid Al-Mannai, Sheikh Muhammad bin Faisal Al Thani, Mr. Salah Al-Jaidah, Mr. Nabil Abu Issa, Mr. Ashraf Abu Issa, Mr. Maqbool Khalfan, Mr. Faisal Al Mana, Mr. Ramez Al Khayyat, Mr. Haider Mashhadi, Mr. Muhammad Alhtaf, Mr. Muhammad Al Rabban, Sheikh Jassim bin Faisal Al Thani and Businessmen Mr. Ali Hassan Al Khalaf and Mr. Ahmed Al Khalaf, as well as Ms. Sarah Abdullah, Deputy General Manager also attended. During the meeting, discussions on potential ways to develop economic relations and means to overcome various obstacles in order to develop trade exchange between the two countries took place.
His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al Abdullah Al Thani, Minister of Commerce and Industry of the State of Qatar, gave a welcoming speech in which he stressed out that this meeting is the beginning of a series of meetings aimed at discussing joint projects and facing all challenges to the development of cooperation and investment between the two parties; his counterpart, Mr. Syed Reda Fatemi Amin, Iranian Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade, referred in a brief speech to the discussions that took place on the obstacles and challenges faced by businessmen in both countries with the aim of increasing cooperation and trade exchange, stressing out that His Excellency the Iranian President pays great attention to overcoming these obstacles.

The strong bilateral Relations

His Excellency Mr. Hamid Reza Dehghani, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Qatar moderated the meeting, he began his speech by affirming both His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, and His Excellency President Ebrahim Raisi, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on the depth of the brotherly relations. He also wished that the two countries would witness more growth and development. Then he asked QBA Chairman and first deputy to give their remarks at the beginning of the meeting, where Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani welcomed the President and his accompanying delegation, praising the historical relations that unite the two countries, stressing out the need to work on developing them He said, "We know the importance of the Iranian market, which is rich in opportunities, we wish to strengthen economic relations, and we look forward to more mutual visits between businessmen in the two countries under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar
For his part, Mr. Hussein Al-Fardan also welcomed the President and the accompanying delegation, expressing his happiness with this important meeting, adding, "We look forward to your visit and hope to have an effective role in investing in the Iranian market, which is full of opportunities and capabilities in all economic sectors, and we also encourage and welcome Iranian investments in Doha".

The Businessmen discussing the Challenges

During this interactive session, QBA members and members of the Iranian delegation raised all the challenges affecting the increase of the bilateral trade exchange, while emphasizing the two parties' ambitions for more investments in a variety of economic fields.
Sheikh Nawaf bin Nasser, QBA Board member, highlighted the necessity of translating the distinguished relations between the two countries into a revitalization at the commercial level to reflect the depth of relations.
As for Sheikh Mohammed bin Faisal, QBA member, he spoke about increasing cooperation between the two parties, especially in the field of intra-tourism, as the two countries have huge potentials that can be translated into reality, especially with the Iranian team’s nomination for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Mr. Saud Al Mana also spoke about the great potentials of the two countries in the industrial field, with the availability of all aspects, especially logistics, with the presence of Hamad International Port, which is the largest in the region, and would support the increase of joint investments.

As for Mr. Salah al-Jaidah, he welcomed the Iranian president and the accompanying delegation, noting that this visit is historic and the first of its kind for an Arab country, which confirms the depth of relations between the two countries, that must be translated at the economic level.
In his terms, Mr. Nasser Al-Haider spoke about the commercial relations that must be developed and the importance of searching for joint projects that benefit both parties. QBA member Mr. Mohammad Althaf, praised the role played by the Republic of Iran in its support for Qatar in recent years, especially in the food security sector.
During the meeting businessman Ali Al-Khalaf presented all the problems they face in the ports, clearing export transactions, and called for alleviating and overcoming obstacles between the two countries.
Ashraf Abu Issa spoke of the need to develop economic cooperation to the retail sectors and other economic fields, because the current cooperation limited to the food field does not live up to the aspirations of the leadership of the two peoples.

Raisi: Reactivating the Iranian Commercial House
His Excellency President Ebrahim Raisi, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran concluded the meeting with a word thanking the State of Qatar and His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar. He also referred to the constructive talks that took place between the two parties, which he confirmed would contribute to the development of bilateral relations, and spoke of the necessity of activating relations with neighboring countries, where there is a lot of untapped energies that must be strengthened and benefited from, whether in the areas of economic, tourism or cultural cooperation, stressing out the importance of The development of these relations now more than ever, and that the current cooperation is not sufficient and does not reflect the real capabilities of the two parties.
He also added, "With regard to businessmen and traders, there is a need to develop investment plans. We need to formulate these plans in various fields, whether in Qatar, Iran or neighboring countries."
He also referred to the importance of activating the Iranian Commercial House in Qatar to introduce the investment opportunities in Iran and to overcome obstacles facing businessmen. His Excellency the President also spoke about the importance of issuing the necessary licenses to save time for the businessmen, pointing to the fact that Minister Fetmi is taking care of this issue personally, adding during his speech the importance of raising exports between Qatar and Iran to reach one billion dollars and the trade exchange to the required level.
The President called on the two heads of the Qatari-Iranian Joint Committee, headed from the Iranian side by the Iranian Minister of Energy, to make more efforts to activate cooperation in order to achieve the desired results.
It should be noted that the volume of trade exchange between Qatar and Iran, according to the Planning and Statistics Authority, during the year 2021 is about 780 million riyals, which does not rise to the level of bilateral relations between both countries.