Ali Ghanem Al-Hajri, Qatar's General Consul in Guangzhou. (Provided to Newsgd.com)

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani is scheduled to visit China on January 30th and 31st. Recently, In an exclusive interview with Newsgd.com, Ali Ghanem Al-Hajri, Qatar's Consul General in Guangzhou, revealed that because of 5 new international shipping routes, the cooperation between Qatar and China, especially between Qatar and Guangdong surged in 2018.

One of the most successful example of the Belt and Road Initiative

Ali proudly put forward that Qatar is one of the most successful example of the Belt and Road Initiative. Qatar was the third country to join the Belt and Road Initiative and the second country to be a shareholder of the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank.

According to Ali, thanks to 5 new international shipping routes launched over the past two years, the trade volume between Qatar and China tripled in 2018, and one of the routes starts in Guangzhou Port. Before the launch of the new routes, ships carrying on goods between China and Qatar had to transfer in Singapore or Malaysia, which took more time and cost.

Ali also indicated that the cooperation between Qatar and China lies in infrastructure projects. Besides airports and ports, Chinese companies have been operating about 90% of all projects for the 2020 World Cup. This has influenced Qatar is to consider Chinese goods to be of high quality, and Chinese companies of high efficiency.

On January 22nd, the Consulate General of Qatar in Guangzhou held an investment promotion meeting. (Provided to Newsgd.com)

Seek out more international investors, especially from Guangdong

On January 22nd, the Consulate General of Qatar in Guangzhou held an investment promotion meeting, attempting to attract more Guangdong investors. The meeting served as a preparation for Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani’s visit to China.

Ali stated during the meeting that, as one of the fast-growing regional economies and among the most promising countries globally, Qatar is now seeking more international investors, especially those from China and Guangdong.

In recent years Qatar has applied many preferential economic policies including allowing foreign investors to implement fully-owned investment projects in various sectors, creating a single window for investor services, providing advanced electronic services for business incorporation and so on, tailored to stimulate and attract foreign investments.

Some investment incentives have also been implemented in Qatar to encourage more foreign investment. For example, Non-Qatari investors may be exempted from income tax for a period up to ten years and also customs on the import of necessary machinery and equipments.

Reported by Wing & Nan

Edited by Olivia & Simon

南方英文网专访卡塔尔驻广州总领事：

开通新海运航线，去年卡塔尔与中国贸易额翻2倍

    据外交部消息，应国家主席习近平邀请，卡塔尔国埃米尔塔米姆·本·哈马德·阿勒萨尼于1月30日至31日对中国进行国事访问。

    近日，卡塔尔驻广州总领事阿里∙加尼姆∙哈吉里在接受南方英文网专访时表示，近年中国与卡塔尔开通了5条新的国际海运航线，促使2018年两国之间的贸易额激增，是2017年的3倍。

    “一带一路”上最成功的例子之一

    作为第三个加入“一带一路”倡议的国家和第二个加入亚投行的国家，阿里非常自豪地表示，卡塔尔是“一带一路”上最成功的例子之一。

    据阿里透露，在过去的两年，卡塔尔与中国之间新增了5条国际海运航线，这使得去年卡塔尔与中国的贸易额是2017年的3倍。在此之前，所有来往两国的船只必须经新加坡或者马来西亚中转，这意味着需要更多的时间和成本。

    阿里同时也表示，五条航线中有一条的起点就是广州港，相信以后卡塔尔与广东会因为这条航线合作更密切。

    此外阿里还介绍，卡塔尔和中国之间也有很多基础设施建设项目的合作。除了机场和港口的基建，2020年卡塔尔世界杯的所有场馆建设项目中，有90%是由中国企业来承建。很多卡塔尔人认为中国产品质量过硬，中国企业效率惊人。

    希望更多广东投资商前往卡塔尔

    阿里提到，作为快速增长的区域经济体之一，也是全球最具发展前景国家之一，卡塔尔希望与更多的国际投资者合作，尤其是来自中国和广东地区。上周卡塔尔驻广州总领事举办了招商引资见面会，向对卡塔尔感兴趣的广东投资商介绍了部分卡塔尔国情。

    据悉，近些年卡塔尔正在寻求批准允许外国投资者在各个行业实施全资投资项目的法律，为投资者创建对口的服务窗口，为企业注册提供现金的电子服务。此外，非卡塔尔投资者可免征所得税，最长期限为10年，必要的机械和设备的进口海关税也将予以免除。