HE the Minister of Commerce and Industry Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari met with Ranil Jayawardena, the UK’s Minister for International Trade, through visual conferencing technology on Tuesday.

Discussions centred on the promotion of bilateral relations and the development of joint co-operation, particularly in the fields of trade, investment and industry.

The meeting also touched on trade policies, the impact of the Covid-19 on economic and commercial activities in both countries, and the efforts both parties have been pursuing to mitigate the economic repercussions of this crisis.

Both sides followed up on topics on the agenda of the Joint Ministerial Committee for Economic, Commercial and Technical Cooperation, and discussed co-ordination mechanisms to bolster bilateral trade and enhance co-operation in priority sectors, which would serve the development aspirations of the two countries.

The UK and Qatar traded QR14.06bn worth of goods in 2019, the equivalent of $3.85bn, ranking the UK as Qatar’s seventh largest trading partner.

Also, a total of 1,010 British companies are currently registered at the MoCI in Qatar. These include some 69 representative offices, seven fully owned British companies and 934 Qatari-British companies with a $2.6bn capital, operating in engineering consulting, contracting, information technology, trade and services, in addition to some 35 British firms licensed under the umbrella of the Qatar Financial Centre.