Qatar sees no economic or political risks in Turkey

By Huseyin Erdogan and Gulsen Cagatay

ANKARA

Qatar does not see any economic or political risks against investing in Turkey, despite the July 15 coup attempt, the Qatari ambassador in Ankara said on Friday.

The peninsular Gulf country, Qatar, was the first country to show its support for Turkey after the foiled military coup and has continued to do so, Qatari Ambassador Salem Mubarak Al-Shafi told Anadolu Agency.

Qatari Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani called Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in support of the government after the coup attempt.

He added that relations between Qatar and Turkey will be stronger, while trade will continue to develop and more importantly will remain unhindered.

"There is a strategic and strong relationship between both countries," Al Shafi added.

He said that Qatar is committed to making further investments in Turkey "because we see that our economic relations with Turkey is not for the short term but for the long term."

The July 15 attempted coup, which the Turkish government says was organized by the Gulenist terrorist organization, claimed at least 240 lives and injured nearly 2,200.

New investments due

Qatari and Turkish representatives will hold a meeting to discuss both bilateral and regional relations in the near future.

"We will soon announce new investments in Turkey in few weeks in various fields including finance and energy," Al Shafi said.

Qatar and Turkey already signed a memorandum of understanding on Dec. 2 for long term liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade between the two countries.

Over the last few years, Turkey has procured LNG from Qatar through the spot market. Qatar sent at least 9 LNG spot cargoes of 1.2 billion cubic meters each to aid Turkey's total LNG consumption of 55 billion cubic meters.

Al-Shafi said that based on their historic trustworthy relations, bilateral trade can be doubled, which in 2014 was around $1.3 billion and around $1 billion in 2015.

Turkey-Qatar High Strategic Committee’s first meeting in the Qatari capital of Doha was held on Dec. 2 where both countries signed 15 bilateral agreements.

Turkish investments in Qatar are focused mainly in the construction sector and consultancy services. The total value of projects undertaken by more than 60 Turkish companies, among which are leading companies, reached approximately $13.5 billion.