Business Minister proposes Qatar to use Romanian economy as access gate to EU

Minister of the Business Milieu, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, Stefan-Radu Oprea, met on Thursday with Sheikh Faisal Bin Thani Al-Thani, head of Regional Portfolios at the Qatar Investment Authority and a member of the Qatar ruling family, with whom he discussed Romania - Qatar business opportunities, the Ministry of the Business Milieu, Commerce and Entrepreneurship informed in a release. 

The two officials' main topics of discussion were attracting investments to brownfield and PPP infrastructure and energy projects, the Ministry said. 

The minister presented to the Qatari delegation the list of the strategic projects under public-private partnerships and Romania's investment-friendly macroeconomic framework, stating that "the Romanian economy can be an access gate for the economic and financial interests of the Qatari business community to the EU and the Black Sea region." 

The Qatar representatives expressed interest in Romania's investment opportunities, particularly in road, port and airport infrastructure projects, as well as in the production of electricity from renewable sources, and also looked at some of the projects together with Romanian experts. 

The Minister of Commerce and the representative of the Qatar Investment Authority agreed on the timeliness of continuing and putting into practice the discussions at a Romania - Qatar Economic Forum. 

Romania's bilateral trade with the State of Qatar amounted in 2018 to 40.73 million dollars, of which Romanian exports stood at 36.46 million dollars and imports from Qatar amounted to 4.27 million dollars.