Doha, 3 November 2008

The QFC Authority and the Qatar Businessmen Association co-sponsored the Qatar-UK Bilateral Investment Forum at the Intercontinental
Hotel in Doha on 2 November. The Forum was attended by HE Sheikh Fahad Bin Jassim Al Thani Qatar’s Minister of Business and Trade, and Lord Mandelson, UK Minister of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. The event was also attended by a high level British business delegation which was visiting Qatar as part of a Gulf tour led by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, as well as senior representatives of the Qatari government and business community. The meeting was addressed by the two Ministers and by Issa Abu Issa, Secretary General of the Qatar Businessmen Association and Stuart Pearce, CEO and Director General of the QFC Authority. A question and answer session followed.

In his opening remarks, HE Sheikh Fahad said:
"We are working hard not only to help our people benefit from our growing wealth, but also to diversify our economy and to build strong trading relations with countries around the world. The UK is of course one of our leading partners in this respect. Apart from the supply of LNG to the UK which will grow to some 25% of your imported requirements in the next 2 or 3 years, we are becoming a significant investor in your economy, as most recently highlighted by Barclay’s announcement last week. But we welcome investment from the UK also, and I hope this visit will help to encourage that.
As Minister of Business and Trade, I want to encourage our private sector to participate fully in the development of our economy, and in our trading relations."

The Minister also announced the formation of an annual Ministerial Forum led by the private sector to further develop trade flows with the UK.