Plans are in the pipeline for the establishment of Turkish manufacturing facilities in Qatar to help in the production of more locally-made products, Turkey’s ambassador to Qatar Fikret Ozer said yesterday.
The ambassador pointed out that “as Turkey’s contribution to Qatar,” the Turkish companies will be involved in direct production to help Qatari companies make their own products.
Ozer said a delegation composed of major furniture manufacturing companies from Turkey’s Kayseri province visited Qatar earlier this month to seek investment opportunities and potential partnerships with Qatari companies.
Yakup Deveci, the chairman of Kayseri Furniture Industrialists’ Association (Kaymos), told Gulf Times during the visit that “as a business and government policy,” Qatar is “a priority country” for Turkey.
“We want to establish our presence in the Qatari market not only for our own businesses but as a show of support for Qatar’s business community,” Deveci said.
Aside from the furniture industry, the ambassador also said Turkey “wants to make contributions to Qatar in the field of medicine.”
“Some Turkish companies in this sector will be visiting Qatar from December 10 to 14 and we are looking forward to forge partnerships in the field of medicine through meetings and dialogue with relevant authorities and organisations,” said Ozer, who also expects the visit to contribute to the increase of trade volume between the two countries.
Ozer noted that Qatar’s Minister of Health HE Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari is expected to visit Turkey “soon” to meet with her Turkish counterpart “to discuss areas of co-operation in the fields of medicine.”
“Turkey is a very attractive country in the field of medicine and medical tourism, and we are targeting regional countries seeking surgery and treatment, which is why we are looking for new co-operation areas, similar to the Turkish Hospital in Doha,” the ambassador told Gulf Times.
He also said Turkey is also expecting its tourism industry to flourish from the influx of medical tourists. “Because aside from getting medical treatment, the patients will also get to travel and see the scenic spots around the country,” he said.
He added: We are constructing a new airport in Istanbul, which is poised as one of the biggest in the region, and this will trigger the further development and strengthening of relations between our countries through Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines.”
