Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps his Department is taking to improve bilateral trade with Qatar.

UK and Qatar share a strong and growing trade and investment relationship. In 2015 UK exports to Qatar totalled £2.6 billion, with Qatar exports to UK at £2.7 billion. The United Kingdom is Qatar’s number 1 destination for foreign direct investment.

My Rt. Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade hosted a Qatar-UK Business and Investment Forum in London and Birmingham on 27 and 28 March. Qatar committed to investing £5 billion across the English regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, over the next 3 years. The UK also committed, via UK Export Finance, to increase the amount of export finance available to support trade with Qatar to £4.5 billion.