Al-Falih: GCC must create attractive environment for foreign investment

Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Minister Khalid Al-Falih said here Sunday that the GCC countries should create an attractive environment to draw foreign investments.

He was speaking at the opening of the Qatar-Saudi Arabia (KSA) forum in Riyadh. The forum was organized by the Qatar Chamber and the Council of Saudi Chambers, (CSC) which was held on the sidelines of the ”Made in Qatar Exhibition 2016.”
Al-Falih pointed out that the forum is in line with the orientation of the leaderships of the two countries and the vision of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and the Gulf Cooperation Council, which aims to promote integration between the GCC countries and economic sectors, and raise the international profile of the council and its role in regional and international issues.
“We know that the current economic conditions at the regional and international levels pose challenges to the business climate in general, but in my opinion, it will pave the way for many more promising opportunities in the Gulf Cooperation Council,” the minister said.
Al-Falih said Qatar is one of the world’s fastest growing economies, and its GDP jumped from $8 billion in 1995 to $166 billion in 2015.
“Saudi Arabia and Qatar are looking forward to increasing the volume of investment between the two countries. We are counting on the private sector to play a leading role in this regard.”
”Oil will not be the future driving force of the Gulf economies,” Qatari Minister of Energy and Industry Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sada said in his speech.
In light of the decline in oil prices, he said the Gulf economies need to rely on a variety of resources in the future, and added that without productive foreign investments, these economies will not achieve sustainable development.
The forum was also attended by Qatar Chamber Chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al-Thani, Chairman of the Council of Saudi Chambers Hamdan bin Abdulla Al-Samren and Qatar Development Bank CEO Abdul Aziz Al-Khalifa.
Al-Sada said the GCC had the potential to be a gateway for regional and international investments, and added that the volume of GCC global investments, excluding sovereign funds, amounted to $248 billion in 2015.
“The contribution of the industrial sector in the Gulf GDP is 10 percent. It is a very low rate compared to the developed countries. The majority of these investments are focused on energy-intensive industries like petrochemicals and fertilizers, which are government-owned,” he said.
Emphasizing the need for coordination among the GCC countries in the field of manufacturing industries, especially in the SMEs, he said he hoped to pave the way for private sector initiatives to find a decent place on the map of production and export.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al-Thani said: “We meet today as businessmen to discuss the best mechanisms that will help us enhance cooperation and remove obstacles that may prevent the flow of mutual investments between our countries.”
“I am fully certain the Qatar-KSA partnership is based on the key roles played by businessmen and manufacturers in achieving the sustainable development by investing in joint projects beneficial to both countries’ economies,” Al-Thani concluded.
Al-Sada inaugurated the “Made in Qatar” exhibition at the Riyadh Exhibition Center on Sunday.
The exhibition, which was organized by the Qatar Chamber, and held for the first time outside Qatar, is attended by more than 200 Qatari companies.

Source: Arab News