NEW DELHI, June 19 (UNI): A high-level Qatari delegation led byMinister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed bin Abdulla Al-Mahmoudarrived here this evening for a three-day visit to bolster and cement trade relations between India and that country.
The delegation would meet Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahmed and discuss issues of mutual interest.
It is also scheduled to call on Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and Petroleum Minister Mani Shanker Aiyar during the next two days, official sources said.
The delegation will look at two-way bilateral investments between the two countries.
It will meet with industry leaders under the auspices of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) tomorrow.
High on the agenda of the delegation is to hold discussions with Indian counterparts - both in Government and industry, to concretise specific programmes and projects for cooperation identified during the recent visit of the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani.
It would take forward the recent initiatives undertaken by the Governments of the two countries.
The delegation comprises members from the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Energy and Industry, Defence Ministry, Supreme Council for Economic and investment Affairs, Qatar Science Foundation, Ministry of Civil Service Affairs and Housing, etc.
The composition of the delegation is ample indication of the possibility of cooperation in a wide spectrum of activities.
The meeting with CII members would pave a way for concretising and formalising business deals, which would improve trade linkages between India and Qatar.
CII members are keenly looking at investing in Qatar because of the immense potential the country holds.
Some of the project proposals which would come up for discussion during the meeting is Graphite India's proposal for setting up a manufacturing unit in Qatar, and Taj Hotel's, interest in setting up a luxury hotel in Pearl Island.
Besides, NeST Group, GR Engineering Ltd, Tata Infotech, TCS, Jindal Steel, besides others, have all evinced keen interest in investing in Qatar.
CII has identified several projects for cooperation with Qatar which include both investments by Indian Companies in Qatar and Qatari investments in India.
These project proposals would be discussed in detail during the meeting.
The sectors for the projects cover Tourism, IT, Healthcare, Education, Steel, Oil,SMEs, Energy, Manufacturing etc.
