Market approach and opportunities for enterprises
Digital Meeting, Thursday 15 April, 11:00
The digital meeting “Country Presentation QATAR – Market Approach and Opportunities for Enterprises” took place on Thursday 15 April at 15:00. The meeting was held in conjunction with the Embassy of Italy in Doha and the SACE office for the MENA area and promoted by Lazio Region in partnership with UnioncamereLazio and Tecnopolo SpA.
The initiative is part of the event cycle “Information and Training 4.0” which is promoted by Lazio Region in order to offer orientation and guidelines to enterprises on the right tools to develop export and specific internationalisation programmes towards the Arab countries.
Qatar is a politically stable country with solid macroeconomic fundamentals. It is the first exporter in the world of liquified gas with a per-capita GDP among the highest in the world. Here there is a clear inclination for Made in Italy products. The Emirate has registered a development over the last few years which is nothing short of an economic miracle, also enhanced by the prospect of the Soccer World Cup hosted here in 2022 – the very first in the Gulf region.The political, institutional, commercial and cultural relations between Italy and Qatar enjoy great dynamism, a regular exchange of visits at the highest level and a significant presence of Italian industry in some large infrastructural and defence projects. According to Qatari Customs, Italy was in 2020 the 12th client country and the 6th supplier country of Qatar (with a quota of 4.3%). According to ISTAT, the total exchange of assets between our country and Qatar (our 55th commercial partner and 49th supplier) has reached €1.85bln in 2020. From a goods perspective, around 35% of our exports are semi-finished products. This is followed by 29.9% mechanics, 13% furnishings and construction, 10.3% fashion and accessories, 3.5% transport vehicles and 3.1% agri-food.
Italian imports from Qatar total 92.1% in fuels and hydrocarbons. This is followed by plastics representing around 5% of our purchases from this Middle-Eastern market.
Throughout the meeting, a range of opportunities offered by Qatar to Italian enterprises was presented, along with a brief overview of the country in a tailored and practical way and concrete advice on how to approach the local market. This was followed by brief presentations of ICE-Agency, Sace, and information on upcoming fairs and opportunities. The meeting ended with a Q&A session.
