Qatar First Bank L.L.C. (Public) “QFB”, a leading Shari’ah compliant bank based in Qatar and listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE), attended the invitation-only 9thInvestment Advisory Council Meeting, which took place in Istanbul, Turkey.
The meeting; attended by QFB’s CEO, Ziad Makkawi, was chaired by Turkey’s Prime Minister, H.E. Binali Yildirim, and attended by top Turkish government officials, representatives from 20 global companies as well as the major Business Associations who shared their expertise and discussed ways of strengthening the competitiveness of Turkey’s investment climate.
Commenting on QFB participation, Mr. Abdulla Bin Fahad Bin Ghorab AlMarri, Chairman of QFB, said:
“The IAC meetings are setting the roadmap to strengthening the competitiveness of Turkey’s investment climate. Allowing the participation of leading intuitions from across the region, reflects a country’s bold behavior towards achieving a quantum leap in its successful journey on both economic and developmental levels. IAC meetings will promote an exchange of foreign investments from Qatar and the region to Turkey.”
Mr. AlMarri added: “QFB is proud to be invited to this meeting, and we are confident that our business platform and competences in the Shari’ah compliant finance arena is a key to accelerate the execution of building a prosperous economy.”
Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Makkawi said:
“Leaders of Turkey have continually shown their commitment and dedication to maintain and develop a healthy business climate, supported by a clear communication strategy and engagement with the international investor community.”
Makkawi added: “As a long standing and committed investor in Turkey we feel encouraged by these type of initiatives that help to align perceptions with reality in terms of the Turkish economic and political environment. QFB has invested in Turkish companies in both the Health Care and Retail sectors, the companies we have invested in past are generating some USD 300 MM in Revenues and have created over 5000 jobs. We believe that QFB can serve as a bridge between Turkey, Qatar and the broader GCC in terms of two way investment and business flows.”
Giving the message that his government is ready to ease the way for new investments Turkey, H.E. Prime Minister Yıldırım stressed that the aim for next year is to be a year of investment flows as he addressed at the IAC meeting.
H.E., The Prime Minister Yıldırım added that Turkey will review what it can do in order to create a more available investment environment and turn the country into an attraction center for global investors along with the suggestions and demands we will hear. H.E. Prime Minister Yildirim also thanked QFB for its ongoing support and commitment and encouraged further engagement and business relations.
The 9th Investment Advisory Council meeting aimed at improving Turkey’s investment environment and attracting foreign investors to the country.
Deputy Prime Ministers Mehmet Şimşek and Nurettin Canikli, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci, Finance Minister Naci Ağbal, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak, Development Minister Lütfi Elvan also attended the meeting.
The council members from 14 countries have attended the 9th Investment Advisory Council meeting. They operate in 10 different sectors with a total turnover of $666 billion and employ a total of 1.5 million employees.
Senior managers from the world’s leading groups, including the World Bank Group’s Vice President Cyril Muller, Alstom’s CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge, CEO of Alzahid Group Holding AbdulRahman Al Zahid, APM Terminals’ Senior Vice President Teimen Meester, Bank of China’s Senior Vice President Qiang Liu, Bombardier’s President Laurent Troger, CEO of British Petroleum Tufan Erginbilgiç, CEO of Burgan Bank Eduardo Eguren, Gemalto’s Senior Vice President Tommi Nordberg, Khazanah Nasional Berhad’s Executive Director Dato’ Noorazman Abd Aziz, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Corporation Ali Faramawy, CEO of Mitsui & Co.Europe Atsushi Kume, CEO of Mumtalakat Mahmood Hashim Al Kooheji, Chairman of Nesma Saleh Al-Turki, CEO of Qatar First Bank Ziad Makkawi, Renault’s Senior Vice Chairman Denis Le Vot, CEO of Sberbank Herman Gref, Managing Director of Sojitz Europe Shigeya Kusano, Vice President of United Technologies Corporation David Hess, CEO of ZTE Corporation Zhang Renjun and Vodafone’s Chief Executive of Vodafone Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific region Serpil Timuray attended the meeting.
As a leading listed entity on the Qatar Stock Exchange, QFB can serve as a trusted advisor and gateway for investors interested to tap into innovative, shari’ah-compliant, financial solutions and investment opportunities in both Qatar and Turkey. QFB has the competences and capabilities to offer high-net-worth individuals and corporates an attractive range financial products and services focused on private equity and real estate, private banking and wealth management, as well as corporate and institutional banking.
Mr. Makkawi concluded:
“Financial Services is one of the main areas of bilateral co-operation between Qatar and Turkey, and we believe it has a great potential for further growth and development. We at QFB are confident that we have all the ingredients to fulfill the growing needs of Qatar-Turkey economic aspirations. QFB is in a perfect position to participate and facilitate deals, projects and investments between the two countries and play a vital role in growing and strengthening the current business relationship.”