The total trade volume of Qatar and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) reached $16bn in 2014, Singapore ambassador Wong Kwok Pun has said.
The ambassador, who spoke at a business seminar at the Qatar Chamber yesterday, expressed optimism that despite the oil crisis, Qatar-Asean trade will continue to rise in 2016.
“Asean has become stronger and more united, and I believe we can offer many business opportunities to Qatari businessmen. Asean gross domestic product (GPD) is $2.6bn, making it the seventh largest economy in the world and the third largest in Asia,” said Pun, addressing Qatar Chamber officials led by vice-chairman Mohamed bin Towar al-Kuwari.
He said Asean population is the third largest in the world at 622mn people, making it a “substantial market.” More than half of the Asean population is below 30 years old, he stressed.
As of December 2015, Pun said the total value of Asean trade for 2013-2014 was $2.5tn. This increased by $1tn between 2007 and 2014, he noted, adding that foreign direct investments (FDI) into Asean totalled $136bn, and reached $24bn among Asean nations. Speaking to Gulf Times on the sidelines of the seminar, Pun said Qatar could serve as a manufacturing hub to other Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries. Pun said one of the four pillars of Asean aims to transform its $622mn market into a single market and production base.
“The aim is to remove barriers to trade and services. By removing tariffs, we can bring in different parts and components from Asean countries into one or several locations. From there, they are assembled and exported to other countries,” Pun explained.
He added: “What is certain is that there is a lot of investment potential between Asean and Qatar. As the Qatari population grows, they would be importing more. Asean countries are trying to establish one production source similar to China, which has become a formidable manufacturing centre.
“We would also want to create something similar within the Asean. This opens up the opportunity to establish manufacturing assemblies in Qatar where the parts could be exported to other GCC countries or in the region. That would change the pattern of the trade.”
Pun said Qatari investments in Asean-member countries include Ooredoo, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), QNB, Qatar Petroleum International, Qatar Airways, Hassad Food, Katara Holdings, and Katara Hospitality, among others.
He said two-way trade between Qatar and Asean has grown by more than 60 times from 2000 to 2014. Citing the upward trend, Pun stressed that “this trajectory will continue.”
“I believe that there is more that we can do together. Asean is firmly on the path of rapid and sustained economic growth. From 2014 to 2018, Asean’s annual growth rate is projected to average 5.4%, which is higher than most economies in the world.
“We are also moving towards closer economic integration, which will raise the productivity in Asean and create more jobs and drive further growth. We are open for more business with Qatar. Because the future is exciting, I am urging Qatari businessmen and Qatar-based companies to join the Asean in this growth path, which I believe both sides will stand to gain from it,” Pun said.