Dated: 21st September 2021

Location: Virtual Online Meeting

Event: Inaugural Meeting Of The Joint Business Council Between Malaysia And Qatar

The Malaysia-Qatar Joint Business Council (MQJBC) had its inaugural meeting on 21 September 2021, on a virtual mode. MQJBC was established in late 2019, to serve as a private sector platform to promote and facilitate closer interactions of the business communities of both nations, to yield higher levels of positive outcomes on the Malaysia-Qatar trade and investment front. The Malaysian Chapter of MQJBC was established on 3rd December 2019; and is one of the councils of NCCIM.

The MQJBC is established and governed by the Memorandum of Agreement signed in 2017between National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (NCCIM) and Qatar Chamber during the official visit of HRH Emir of Qatar to Malaysia.

The Chairman of the Qatar Chapter of the MQJBC, Dr Muhammed Gohar Muhammed, said that Malaysia is a vital partner in investment and trade; and further added that the Qatari market is open and liberal, and any individuals and companies can own 100% of their business ventures in Qatar. The cooperation between Qatar and Malaysia has witnessed several fruitful stages of development, visits, conversations, agreements, and common view of points especially between the leaders.

The Chairman of the Malaysian Chapter of the MQJBC, Datuk Mohamed Razeek Md Hussain views that this inaugural meeting is an auspicious and historic one, and a welcomed development following the Minister of International Trade and Industry, YB Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali’s visit to Qatar earlier this year, and meeting with his Qatari counterpart. Malaysia and Qatar can be gateways into ASEAN and the GCC, respectively. Deepening and developing our economic ties is essential for our businesses, particularly our small and medium enterprises, to access and explore new opportunities to recover following the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years.

The Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Malaysia, H.E. Fahd bin Mohammed Kafoud and the Ambassador of Malaysia to the State of Qatar, H.E. Zamshari Shaharan were instrumental to the success of this meeting. We also extend our appreciation to MIDA and MATRADE for their assistance towards this meeting.

The MQJBC’s Chairman Datuk Mohamed Razeek Md Hussain Maricar’s Opening Statement is as follows:

Bismillahirrahmannirrahim and Assalammualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

Mr Chairman, Dr Mohamed Jawhar Al-Mohamed and distinguished members of the Qatar-Malaysia Joint Business Council or the QMJBC.

First and foremost, on behalf of our Malaysia-Qatar Joint Business Council or the MQJBC, we wish to thank Mr Chairman, Dr Mohamed Jawhar Al-Mohamed and the very distinguished members of the QMJBC for attending this inaugural meeting of the two Councils.

I would also wish to recognise and thank His Excellency Mr Fahd Kafood, Ambassador of Qatar to Malaysia and His Excellency Mr Zamshari Shaharan, Ambassador or Malaysia to Qatar for their valuable assistance and effort to have this meeting realised.

We also wish to thank the Qatar Chamber and the Qatar Ministry of Commerce and Industry together with our Ministry of International Trade and Industry and our National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, whose join effort made this JBC a reality.

Mr Chairman and Members of the QMJBC,

This is a historic and auspicious day for us. For at last being able to meet with the QMJBC. I believe we could have had this sooner, but for the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking of which, we hope and pray that the people of Qatar are protected and kept safe from COVID-19 by Allah SWT.

This is our first step towards establishing a long, good, and beneficial relationship between our two nations, Insya Allah.

We intend and hope through this relationship, we can increase and enhance bilateral trade between our two nations.

We aim to support and assist companies to do business and invest in both our countries.

Mr Chairman, and Members of the QMJBC,

There are great many opportunities for our businessmen to collaborate in areas of mutual interest, Insya Allah. This will serve to benefit both our countries.

Our MQJBC shall be pleased to offer every assistance to Qatar, not only to opportunities to our Malaysian market, but we can be the platform to the ASEAN market of more than 600 million populace, Insya Allah. We cover seven major sectors which are agriculture, manufacturing, oil & gas, energy, construction, infrastructure, real estate, services and hospitality, and healthcare. This represents 52% of the work force in Malaysia, and a 120bn USD turnover.

Our government and our businessmen have good relations with the countries in ASEAN, such as Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam, to name a few.

We also look forward to Qatar being the gateway to the GCC and the MENA countries.

With the help from Allah SWT, this will be a successful Joint Business Council, Insya Allah.

Thank you.