The second edition of ‘Made in China’ exhibition in Doha has been scheduled from November 15 to 18, with larger space and more participating Chinese companies “due to the great success of the first edition” last year.
Qatar Chamber (QC) in collaboration with the Embassy of Qatar in China has launched a promotion campaign for the second edition of the exhibition at China National Convention Centre (CNCC) in Beijing in the presence of QC chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim al-Thani, QC Director General Saleh Hamad al-Sharqi, acting charge d’affaires at the Qatar embassy Abdallah bin Saif al-Khayarin, and Chong Yee, deputy director of China Centre for International Economic and Technical Exchange.
Sheikh Khalifa said the strategic location of Qatar will boost the exhibition’s ability to link the East and the West with Africa, and expand the business scope of the event.
Al-Shaqi stressed that Qatar has become one of the top countries in the world that attracts investments due to its comprehensive development plans, as it has allocated more than $200bn for infrastructure projects.
These cover roadwork projects at $20bn, railways at $40bn, the development of sports stadiums in preparation for 2022 FIFA World Cup $4bn, new Doha seaport around $8bn, and Hamad International Airport with a cost of more than $16bn, in addition to the tens of thousands of hotel rooms scheduled to be built to support the expected inflow of visitors and tourists to Qatar.
He also said that 2016 is the Qatar-China Culture year and the culture exchange between the two countries will certainly enhance the economic and business relations between the two countries, besides the friendly cooperation in other related fields.
He pointed out that the first edition of ‘Made in China’ was so successful with the participation of more than 100 Chinese major companies and transactions that exceeded $45mn. However, the upcoming edition targets transactions worth $450mn, as more space will be added to the exhibition to be up to 10,000 sqm that could host the targeted 300 Chinese companies and exhibitors, more than 800 government suppliers and procurement companies and 30 companies from Africa.
In addition, the new edition will include the China-GCC forum for investment and trade.
Asked about the impact of low oil prices on 2022 FIFA World Cup projects, Al-Sharqi said that this will have no impact on these projects as most of them have already been given to companies to implement and a considerable percentage of them has been accomplished.
Besides, it is not part of the country’s budget. He stressed that the Qatari market is promising for Chinese building materials companies, as these had displayed high quality products last year at the first edition of ‘Made in China’.
Further, the government in Qatar encourages foreign investment in the country and gives it good incentives. He said that Chinese companies would enjoy good investment opportunities in Qatar, in particular in the fields of technology and infrastructure.
Meanwhile, he affirmed that the real estate market in Qatar will continue to grow driven by the projects for 2022 FIFA World Cup.
As for Qatar plans to invest abroad, he said that the country aims at sustainable investments that could diversify sources of national income. Similarly,  Al-Khayarin welcomed the exhibition as a good opportunity to open the markets of the region for Chinese companies, acting as an active platform for making productive partnerships with their counterparts in the region.
The Chinese official expected that the exhibition will provide more easy access to both Qatari and Chinese companies to further cooperate.
It will be the gateway of the participating Chinese companies to increase their imports to Qatar and the region.