Garnier: Qatar is Indispensable Strategic Partner for UK

Doha, November 22 (QNA) - HE Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for International Trade in the United Kingdom Mark Garnier said that the common interests and cooperation agreements between Britain and Qatar make Doha an indispensable partner for the UK in the future. He stressed that the two countries share a strategic partnership, especially with the presence of more than 600 British companies operating in Qatar, some of which considered the largest foreign investor in the country. This came during a meeting between the UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and a delegation of members of the Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA), as part of a European tour through which the QBA seeks to bring more business to Qatar. HE Mark Garnier noted that the volume of trade between the two countries, which exceeded 5 billion pound in 2015, represents an indicator of the annual growth in the volume of trade between the two countries. He praised the success of the Qatar-UK Business and Investment Forum in London and Birmingham this year. A statement issued by the QBA Tuesday revealed that the British official valued the 35 billion pound Qatari investments in the UK. He stressed that Britain is a strategic partner of Qatar for the success of the 2022 World Cup, whereas it harnesses its potential for the benefit of companies operating in the public and private sectors in this field, especially after the success of London in organizing the 2012 Olympics. The British Under-Secretary said that education is an important partnership between the two countries, where there are about 25,000 British professionals working in Qatar, in addition to graduating 8,000 students from the British Council annually in Doha, while studying in Britain about 4,000 Qatari students an annual increase of about 20 percent. HE Chairman of QBA Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al-Thani said that the private sector in Qatar is playing an important role and is contributing effectively to the diversity of the country's economy. HE reviewed Qatar's achievements in the field of infrastructure projects and other economic sectors. QBA Chairman stressed that the strategic location of the state between Asia and Europe represents an opportunity that can be exploited efficiently by British investors. (QNA)