US-Qatar ties deepen as American firms support next phase of Qatar’s 2030 vision

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American businesses are keen on supporting the Qatari government to achieve the objectives of the Qatar National Vision 2030, according to Khush Choksy, senior vice-president of the US Chamber of Commerce for Middle East, Central Asia and Turkiye.

Choksy recently led a business delegation to Qatar of nearly 20 US companies, which held meetings with various Qatari ministries to understand the country’s 2030 strategy and private sector participation in job creation, economic diversification, leveraging education, sports and technology investments.

“We’re here with a business mission of 20 business leaders. Prior to the Qatar Economic Forum, we held meetings with a broad range of players, including the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to understand Qatar’s Vision 2030 national strategy, particularly its final phase, and how American companies can contribute to it and also benefit from that process,” Choksy told Gulf Times on the sidelines of QEF 2024.

Earlier this year, the Qatari government announced the launch of the Third National Development Strategy (NDS3) 2024-2030, which is the final stage to achieving the goals of the QNV 2030.

Choksy explained, “As Qatar looks beyond the 2022 FIFA games to the next phase of its economic growth, we wanted to be here right at the outset and understand what the challenges and the opportunities are for its economic growth, as well as how the US private sector can participate in the last phase of the Qatar National Vision 2030, as stated in the launch of this new development strategy.”

The QNV 2030, which was launched in 2008, focuses on job creation, economic diversification, leveraging education, sports investments, and technology. In its final phase, the private sector is expected to play the lead role as previous phases of the country’s 2030 vision concentrated on establishing its foundations and major infrastructure, Choksy pointed out.

He said US companies can work with their Qatari counterparts in areas like technology, biotech, artificial intelligence (AI). They can also contribute and benefit from potential partnerships facilitated by Qatar’s investments in the US, which stands at $45bn.

Choksy said, “The initial announcement of the $30bn investments into the United States was made by Qatar at the US Chamber in Washington, DC around 2015. It was also there that an additional announcement was made that took Qatari investments from $30bn to $45bn. The Chamber welcomes Qatar’s investment into the US and will continue to support these efforts.

“The Qatar Investment Authority has been a strong partner of the Chamber and its US-Qatar Business Programme over the last decade. In the next phase of Qatar National Vision 2030, we are really looking at forging relationships between Qatari and American companies and to see where we can play the biggest role.”

Choksy emphasised that the US Chamber of Commerce plans to continue its engagement with Qatar, both physically and through constant communication with the Qatari government and member companies. The chamber is also looking forward to hosting Qatar’s delegation at the upcoming SelectUSA conference in Washington, DC, slated next month.