OREANDA-NEWS. January 24, 2014. The Moldovan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) and the Chamber of Commerce of the State of Qatar today in Chisinau signed a cooperation agreement, meant to help boost the economic relations between the two states, the CCI’s press service has reported.

CCI head Gheorghe Cucu said the Moldovan entrepreneurs were interested to initiate the cooperation partnerships with the economic agents from Qatar, especially, in the agri-food, energy, pharmaceutical sectors. “The bilateral trade exchanges between our states are very modest. To facilitate setting the ties between business people and inform them about opportunities provided by Moldova, respectively, Qatar, we may organise economic missions, visits and participations in exhibitions and company presentations. We welcome the signing of the cooperation agreement as a first step to this end”, Cucu noted.

In the context, Qatari CCI’s Honorary Treasurer Ali Bin Abdulatif al Misnad said that his country could be a bridge to the markets in the region. “I noticed that there was interest in cooperation with Qatar, and we, in our turn, would like to inform about possibilities to enlarge the cooperation. The sectors you have enumerated are of interest to us. Although Qatar is a small state, it may become a gateway to the Moldovan goods you want to export to our region”, the quoted source said.

After the signing of the agreement, the Qatari delegation had bilateral meetings with Moldovan business people.

Attending the event, the manager of the Molfarmgrup Ltd, Ion Mereacre, said that his company produced beef meat and wanted to enlarge the sales market. “We carry out exports to Iraq, Egypt and Libya. The beef meat, as a traditional product, is very appreciated on the markets of the Eastern states. The consumers from the region like the meet bred with natural fodder, and we may provide them such a quality. The initiation of cooperation relations with Qatar would be an opportunity to us”, he said.

Data by the National Statistics Bureau show that, in January-November 2013, Moldova’s foreign trade with Qatar was estimated at 72,600 dollars, fully made up of Qatari imports.