On 3 December 2015, Doha Bank along with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) hosted a business session, Bilateral Opportunities between India, Qatar and Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), at the ITC Maurya Hotel in New Delhi, India.
The session was attended by key dignitaries and corporates from the National Capital Region (NCR) in India.
Dr R. Seetharaman, CEO of Doha Bank, highlighted that Qatar’s economy is expected to grow by more than 4.7% in 2015.
He talked about Qatar’s 4.8% rise in GDP in the second quarter of 2015, helped by robust growth in construction, financial services and hospitality sectors.
“Qatar has been ranked 14th in the competitiveness index by World Economic Forum. It has established the economic zones company Manateq to develop and operate three special economic zones that provide infrastructure in accordance with the highest international standards in order to reach new levels of economic diversity and promote the growth of the small and medium-sized companies and private sector.”
The upcoming economic zone ‘Um Al Houl Special Economic Zone‘s first phase of development will commence in 2016.
Seetharam said: “In Qatar sectors such as construction, transport and water will witness significant activity in the upcoming years to support its non-hydrocarbon diversification. Indian companies can look forward to explore opportunities in this segment. Qatar‘s economic model is sustainable on account of non- hydrocarbon diversification.”
The current bilateral trade between Qatar and India in 2014-15 is approximately $16bn. The overall trade between GCC and India in 2014-15 is over US$ 133bn.