Washington, DC: The US-Qatar Business Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce co-hosted a reception and dinner for His Excellency Sheikh Abdulla Bin Saoud Al-Thani, Governor of the Central Bank of Qatar, and his accompanying delegation. The delegation was in Washington to attend the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund. Also in attendance was His Excellency Sultan bin Rashid Al-Khater, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry of the State of Qatar.
Mohammed Barakat, Managing Director of the US-Qatar Business Council welcomed guests to the reception, thanking His Excellency the Governor and his accompanying delegation. Ambassador Anne Patterson, President of the US-Qatar Business Council delivered remarks at the reception, emphasizing the importance of Qatar's banking sector and the development taking place in the Qatari economy. Steve Lutes, Executive Director of Middle East Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also delivered brief remarks, thanking His Excellency the Governor and the accompanying delegation.
In his remarks that followed, His Excellency the Governor reviewed the latest developments in Qatar's financial sector, as well as how Qatar plans to attract specialized American financial technology companies to do business there. He emphasized Qatar's goals of developing the current banking infrastructure to improve the quality and efficiency of American firm's offerings.
"With regard to bilateral relations with the United States, Qatar is looking ahead to the future and is committed to finding more ways and alternatives to encourage stronger relations between the financial sectors in Qatar in the United States," His Excellency the Governor said.
The following dinner provided participating companies the opportunity to discuss more intimately with the visiting delegation. The reception welcomed over 20 senior executives from predominantly US financial services firms.
The US-Qatar Business Council is committed to enhancing the US-Qatar bilateral commercial relationship. Events like these provide US companies unprecedented opportunities to engage with Qatari decision makers. This reception and dinner was made possible by the generous sponsorship of ConocoPhillips, Co-Chair of the US-Qatar Business Council's Board of Directors and Chair of the U.S. Chamber's US-Qatar Business Program.