The Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA) has welcomed the invitation of Somalia’s President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, to visit and explore the East African country’s real estate, insurance, tourism, agriculture, and other investment sectors.
This was discussed during a meeting between Mohamud and QBA officials led by the association’s chairman, HE Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al-Thani, which was held recently in Doha in the presence of Somalia’s Deputy Prime Minister Salah Ahmed Jama; Finance Minister Elmi Mohamed Nur; Director of the President’s office Hussein Sheikh Mahmoud; and chargé d’affaires Ron Saeed Qarsheen.
Other participants in the meeting included QBA board member Saud al-Mana and QBA members Sheikh Faisal bin Fahad, Nabil Abu Issa, Abdullah al-Kubaisi, Maqbool Khalfan, and Yousef al-Mahmoud, as well as QBA deputy general manager Sarah Abdullah.
“Somalia’s various economic sectors, such as agriculture, commercial, real estate, and industrial sectors are open for investments, whether in partnership with the government or the private sector,” Mohamud said.
The president said Qatar and Somalia have distinguished and strong relations in several areas, adding that he “expects these relations to witness greater cooperation in the future.”
“Qatar focused on developmental projects that would benefit the Somali people and contribute to the local economy. The most prominent examples are the implementation of the Mogadishu-Afgoi road project and the Mogadishu-Jawhar project, which are two roads linking the capital with a number of cities, in addition to the contribution of the State of Qatar to the rehabilitation and construction of the headquarters of the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the construction and rehabilitation of the Mogadishu municipality building, as well as other projects,” Mohamud said.
Mohamud said he is visiting Doha for the third time after attending the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In March the Somalian president was in Doha to attend the UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries.
“Somalia is focusing on the youth. Qatar has contributed significantly to projects to eradicate illiteracy, educating around 300,000 students, including another project to economically empower Somali youth and provide them with job opportunities in the fishing sector, benefiting from Somalia’s extended coasts,” Mohamud stressed.
Sheikh Faisal said Qatar and Somalia’s strong historical relations are based on mutual respect, understanding, and collaboration. He noted that Qatar plays an important role in implementing many vital development, reconstruction, and rehabilitation projects in Somalia, such as building roads and other vital infrastructure projects, including economic empowerment programmes and job creation.
“Qatar also implemented many developmental and sustainable projects that include building schools, hospitals, and healthcare sector development for the youth in Somalia,” Sheikh Faisal said.
Somalia is also seeking Qatari FDI to set up projects that can support development in the country and create job opportunities for the youth. Qatari FDI could be utilised in agricultural projects, livestock, and fisheries considering that Somalia’s coastline is more than 3,700km, making it one of the longest coastlines in the world.
Source: Zawya
