RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which signed six landmark agreements on Tuesday including a land and sea border treaty, have announced plans to set up a joint commercial agency to boost trade and investment links.
The move is to set out a new vision of bilateral relationship in all sectors and also promote commercial activities between the two Gulf neighbors, which were a bit hampered in the past years because of the strained relations.
The move is significant keeping in view the fact that Interior Minister Prince Naif has reaffirmed again yesterday that all bilateral accords will be implemented immediately; which will open a new era of Saudi-Qatari relations. Ibrahim Al-Assaf, finance minister, said that the Joint Saudi-Qatari Coordination Council (SQCC) has, besides other important subjects and accords, also “discussed a range of bilateral economic issues including the possibility of establishing a joint commercial agency or investment body next year.”
“The mandate, the composition and the functions of the proposed agency have not been spelled out so far, but it is expected to include a sizeable gamut of commercial activities,” said Al-Assaf in a press statement released here yesterday. He said that the agreements signed by the Kingdom and Qatar dealt with trade, economy and investment exchanges, while they predominantly include political, security, military, social, and cultural and information issues.
On trade front, the two Gulf countries have reported closer ties especially following the formation of the SQCC. The two-way trade exceeded SR5.5 billion last year. Saudi Arabia is Qatar’s largest trading partner with the latter’s imports from the Kingdom steadily rising over the years. On the private sector level, a group of Saudi and Qatari investors have also announced plans to set up a company in the Kingdom that will engage in projects with initial investments of more than SR10 billion. The projects will be in the commercial, industrial and real estate sectors, according to a report published recently. In fact, there are several Saudi companies as well as individuals, who have had substantial business interests in Qatar. The total capital of Saudi companies registered in Qatar exceeds SR36 billion, with the volume of actual investments in the Qatari market estimated at about tenfold. There are some 94 Saudi companies that have joint ventures in Qatar.
Referring to the progressively growing relations between Saudi Arabia and Qatar with special reference to agreements signed here Tuesday, GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah said that the accords are indicative of the keen desire of the leadership of the two countries to forge closer ties in all domains. He termed the agreements as “quantum leap in strengthening relations,” which will eventually help the six-nation GCC grouping to implement its future plans and policies.
Speaking on his part, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Qatari crown prince, said, “This is a great moment in the history of the two countries.
The tough circumstances facing the world today call for more coordination, cooperation and rapprochement in all areas of our relationship.”
The visit of Crown Prince Sultan to Doha in March this year paved the way for further reconciliation between Riyadh and Doha. It was only in July this year that the Kingdom and Qatar decided to resume the process of delineating the border and also resolved to find solutions to all issues.
