Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al-Thani, Qatar’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, met with Markus Jerger, executive director of the German Federal Association for Small and Medium-sized Businesses (BVMW), during Jerger’s recent visit to Qatar.

The meeting featured previewing aspects of promoting and developing trade and economic cooperation between the State of Qatar and the Federal Republic of Germany.

During the meeting, the economic policies adopted by Qatar to diversify the national economy were also highlighted.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry signed a strategic partnership agreement with the German Federal Association for Small and Medium-sized Businesses (BVMW), in aims at establishing a representative office in Qatar, creating the BVMW’s first-ever office in the Gulf Region.

The agreement was signed by Jerger and Sultan bin Rashid Al-Khater, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The Minister of Commerce and Industry praised the importance of this partnership, pointing out that it reflected the keenness of the Qatari and German governments to consolidate their strategic partnership and develop cooperation between both nations’ business sectors. Al-Khater added that this joint effort will also benefit German SMEs by providing them with more investment opportunities in both Qatar as well as gaining access to expanding to various markets in the region.

For his part, Jerger said: “The signing of the strategic partnership follows the announcements of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Amir of the State of Qatar, during his visits to Germany in 2018 and 2022, to expand investment and economic cooperation between Qatari and German small and medium-sized enterprises. Qatar is currently one of the largest foreign investors in Germany with around €25 billion (US$24.35 billion). Qatar has announced further investments in Germany in the coming years with a focus on SMEs, amounting to €10 billion. With the opening of our BVMW-GCC headquarters in Doha, we are creating a contact point for German and Qatari small and medium-sized companies to benefit from business opportunities and advantages in Qatar and Germany, as well as the opportunity to expand into various markets in the region, especially since Doha is an important investment hub in the region.”

Under this new partnership, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and BVMW will host numerous cross-promotional business and investment events, arrange several delegation visits between the two countries and launch marketing campaigns across multiple media platforms to shed light on the several business opportunities in Qatar for German SMEs.

The signing of this agreement builds on the November 2021 memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Investment Promotion Agency Qatar and BVMW, which aims to jointly advance Qatari-German economic and commercial cooperation and identify new opportunities within the SME sector.

The establishment of BVMW’s office in Doha will contribute to strengthening the Qatari-German relations in the field of business, by connecting BVMW members with Qatari counterparts. It will also serve as a hub for expanding opportunities to link German businesses with potential partners across the region. This new partnership also forms a dual framework to launch joint initiatives in the areas of business facilitation, knowledge transfer, and exchange of experiences, the Qatari government said in a statement.