Qatar Chamber First Vice-Chairman HE Mohamed bin Twar Al Kuwari said that the relations between the State of Qatar and the Republic of South Africa witnessed great momentum within the past few years, as South Africa is an important trade partner to Qatar, pointing to their bilateral trade volume which hit QR 1.2bn last year compared to QR 786mn in 2020, registering an increase of 37 percent.
This came during the Qatar-South Africa business forum which was held on Monday via video conferencing.
The webinar was attended by the Director of Asia and Middle East Region, Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) Thulani Mpetsheni and President of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mtho Xulu alongside with a number of representatives of companies from both countries.
Twar also stressed the strong relations between both countries, noting that these relations are evident through the mutual visits between leaders, government officials and private sector representatives and the agreements signed between both parties in many fields.
He said there is a certain desire from both sides towards levelling up their cooperation relations in all areas.
He added: “Qatar achieved tangible success in investing in the continent of Africa and there is a remarkable interest in investment in Africa through signing agreements with friendly countries and private sector companies”.
As for the Qatari investments in South Africa, he noted that Qatar established many investments there in many sectors such as oil, mining, and petrochemicals, indicating that QP signed deals with Total Energies on entering three more offshore exploration blocks in South Africa.
“South Africa is one of the most important destinations for Qatari investments, as it is rife with plant of promising opportunities that attract Qatari investors,” he added.
Twar confirmed the Qatar Chamber’s keenness to encourage Qatari businessmen to get acquainted with the investment opportunities galore in South Africa, expressing its welcome to South African investments in the Qatari market and its support for companies from both countries to establish commercial alliances and genuine partnerships that benefit economies of both countries.
On his part, Director of Asia and Middle East Region, Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) Thulani Mpetsheni praised the close relations between both countries, noting that these relations are boosted through mutual investments and signed agreements in many fields, stressing that Qatar is a strategic trade partners to South Africa and there is a keen interest to develop its exports to Qatar and increase their bilateral trade exchange.
President of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mtho Xulu thanked Qatar Chamber for holding the forum, emphasizing the South African Chamber’s keenness to develop cooperation relations between companies from both sides.
Xulu also pointed to the possibility of organizing a business visit for South African businessmen to Qatar this year to meet their Qatari counterparts and discuss vistas of cooperation.
He also said that there are many sectors in South Africa that attract Qatari investors such as mining, manufacturing, technology, agriculture, and food security sectors, inviting Qatari companies to invest in his country and cooperate with their South African counterparts.
During the meeting, the South African side delivered a presentation about South African food and fruit exports.
