Qatar wants to see Brazilian production up closer. The vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Arab country, Abdulaziz A. Rahim Al-Emadi, stated the businessmen from Brazil need to travel to Qatar to show their products.
He said the Qataris know very little about the country. “But Brazil has products that Qatar needs and Qatar has things the Brazilians want,” said Al-Emani.
Brazil earns about US$ 40 million annually with sales to this Middle East nation, great part with poultry exports. However, according to Al-Emadi, the possibilities go well beyond that, since Qatar imports almost every other product they consume, from medical products to foods and cars.
The country spends, per year, about US$ 13.15 billion with imports, according to the last information from the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Qatar’s production is resumed to natural gas, oil and petrochemicals, fertilisers, ores and cement.
The per capita income in the country is one of the highest in the world, about US$ 40,000. And this is not all. Qatar doesn’t stop growing. Al-Emadi states that the income will reach US$ 68,000 in 2010.
The country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is of US$ 28.5 billion, should increase 6.7% this year. Last year, the local GDP increased 20.5%. The city of Doha is a picture of this growth. There are construction sites everywhere, carried out by both the private and public sectors.
Growth
The basis for this growth is natural gas exploitation. The country owns the third largest natural gas reserves in the world. Qatar will invest about US$ 70 billion in the energy sector up to 2012. The country started exploiting gas in 1990 and is making a series of exports agreements with the nations in the region and in other parts of the world too.
According to Al-Emadi, up until 2012, Qatar should be one of the greatest gas exporters in the world. The country signed contracts to supply the product for 25 years with Japan, India and Korea.
Currently the country is the third greatest international supplier of natural gas. However the country still doesn’t sell to Brazil. One of the reasons, according to Al-Emadi, is the distance.
The Arab country, however, is negotiating with Korea the purchase of appropriate tanks to transport the gas to more distant locations.
This may make sales to countries in South America easier. “We have a lot of gas, we have to sell, we want to sell to Brazil and anybody who would like to buy it,” states Al-Emadi.
As well as the energy sector, the country is also investing in other areas. Qatar should invest US$ 15 billion in tourism and US$ 36 billion in infrastructures up until 2012.
Brazil and Qatar
The chamber’s vice president stated that opening the Brazilian embassy in Doha may improve trade relations between Brazil and Qatar.
“The Brazilian embassy and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry may work together to bring businessmen in the two countries closer together”, states Al-Emadi.
The Arab leader doesn’t discard, even, the possibility of Qatari businessmen being interested in investing in Brazil. He reassures, however, the need for Brazilians to travel to the country to show the existing opportunities. “We need more information about Brazil,” he says.
According to Al-Emadi, what the Qatari do know well from Brazil is football. “If you ask a 10 year old child, he will give you the names of many football players from Brazil… Ronaldo, Pelé!” he says.
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