Washington DC                                                                                                                                                                                16 Oct. 2017                                                                                                                                                                                          (MOF)

A Qatari delegation headed by Ali Shareef Al-Emadi, Minister of Finance, met with high-level stakeholders on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington DC to discuss the increase in bilateral trade with the US, and Qatar’s role in combatting terrorism financing.

Discussions were held with Wilbur Ross, US Secretary of Commerce , and key representatives of the US Department of Commerce, The Carlyle Group, the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, and the IMF.

Ali Shareef Al-Emadi reiterated Qatar’s commitment to investing USD 35 billion over a period of five years in the US, noting that almost USD 30 billion had already been invested across various sectors in the past three years.

He also spoke about the growing relationship between Qatar and leading American companies that spans over decades, including Boeing, GE and others.

Al-Emadi said 'Our relationship with the US continues to grow and we are working closely with public and private sector partners to promote our mutual interests.'

He said 'The blockade has imposed unprecedented challenges to Qatar, yet we have chosen to focus on the opportunities instead. Qatar remains open for business and we will continue to develop our long-term strategy of pursuing economic diversification.”

Finance Minister of Qatar said that  'These testing times have brought us closer to our allies, such as the US, and have encouraged us to push ahead with our goal of guaranteeing stability and prosperity for the people of Qatar and the generations to come.'

Since the blockade came into effect on June 5, 2017, the Qatari government has expedited measures to ensure that the market is even more attractive to international investors. Qatar already offers a competitive 10% flat corporate tax rate, no personal income tax, no wealth tax and the highest personal savings rate in the world.

Measures were also enforced to help ensure that the market becomes self-sufficient across all industries, in the near future and for the long-term, and a contingency plan was rolled out to guarantee that citizens and residents alike were not subject to shortages of any kind.

Several measures have been taken by the government to continue to attract FDI and support the diversification program.