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September 23, 2019 | New York City 

The Future of Investing:
Spotlight on Qatar

Over the course of the past decade, Qatar invested significantly in its economy resulting in an increase in GDP that is expected to hit $225 billion by 2020. In turn, this growth has attracted attention from foreign investors. To facilitate these FDI inflows, Qatar has launched a number of critical initiatives while also successfully navigating recent geopolitical headwinds. Join us as we take a deep dive into some of the most rapidly growing sectors, and talk to a range of experts on the outlook for foreign investors in Qatar going forward.
New York City
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September 23 - Monday

7:30 am

Registration and Networking Breakfast

8:15 am

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Host

Speaker

8:25 am

In Conversation With Ambassador Anne Patterson

The President of the US-Qatar Business Council speaks with Bloomberg’s Jason Kelly about what she sees as the biggest opportunities for investment in Qatar.

Speaker

Interviewer

8:50 am

FDI in Qatar: Investing Trends to Watch

Foreign direct investment flows into Qatar have generally followed an upward trend in the past several years, thanks largely to the country’s political stability, stable currency pegged to the USD, high-quality infrastructure and an aggressively low corporate tax rate (10 percent). Despite setbacks in 2017, foreign investments in Qatar rose 6.6 percent in the first quarter of 2019 reflecting that investor optimism seems to be returning. We’ll talk to a group of top investors, economists and analysts about the trends and industries they see as the most important to follow for investors wanting to add  their money to the more than $32 billion in FDI already at work in the Qatari economy.

Speakers

Moderator

9:20 am

Bloomberg Intelligence Presents

One of Bloomberg’s top analysts digs into the data on what’s driving growth in Qatar, featuring exclusive Bloomberg Global Data charts and analysis.

Presenter

  • Damian Sassower

    Chief Emerging Markets Fixed Income Strategist, Bloomberg Intelligence

9:35 am

In Conversation With Rachel Duan, President and CEO, GE Global Growth Organization

An in-depth conversation with Rachel Duan, who also serves as President and CEO of GE China and as a Senior Vice President for GE. Duan leads GE’s global growth markets with a focus on a company-to-country approach.

Speaker

  • Rachel Duan

    SVP, GE; President & CEO, GE Global Growth Organization, GE

Interviewer

10:00 am

Closing Remarks

Speakers

Saud Bin Abdullah Al Attiyah

Deputy Undersecretary for Economic Affairs Ministry of Finance, Qatar

Abdulla Al Misnad

Deputy CEO Qatar Free Zones Authority

Sheikh Ali Alwaleed Al-Thani

CEO Qatar Investment Promotion Agency LLC

Rachel Duan

SVP, GE; President & CEO, GE Global Growth Organization GE

Sadiq Hamour

Director of Financial Institutions, Financial Sector Office Qatar Financial Centre

Anne W. Patterson

President US-Qatar Business Council

James Zhan

Senior Director United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

Sonali Basak

Financial Correspondent Bloomberg

Jason Kelly

Chief Correspondent, QuickTake Bloomberg

Damian Sassower

Chief Emerging Markets Fixed Income Strategist Bloomberg Intelligence

Erik Schatzker

Editor-at-Large Bloomberg Television

Sponsor

The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), a leading onshore business and financial centre, endeavours to promote Qatar as one of the world’s most dynamic economies and as an attractive business and investment destination.

Over 700 international firms are registered on the QFC platform and enjoy competitive benefits, such as working within a legal environment based on English common law, the right to trade in any currency, up to 100% foreign ownership, 100% repatriation of profits, 10% corporate tax on locally sourced profits, and an extensive double tax treaty agreement network with 81 countries.

According to the 2018 World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report, Qatar ranks 30th globally, and second in the Middle East for global competitiveness – for the second consecutive year. Qatar also ranks 1st regionally in the Global Entrepreneurship Index and its economy was ranked 10th most competitive out of 63 high-income countries in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2019. It has also been named one of the top 10 most important financial markets.

The QFC aims to attract leading firms across a variety of sectors including financial services, sports and digital and through the QFC’s business platform, international firms have entry into a market that is continuously growing supported by a robust incentives programme.