Each day new steps are being taken in order to increase the scale of commercial and economic ties between Qatar and Turkey, and to form the basis for establishing effective business relationships between the investors of these two countries. In this direction, Turkish venture capital funds came together with Qatari investors to discuss potential collaboration opportunities under the leadership of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Investment Office and with the support of Alternatif Bank and Commercial Bank.

Among the participants of the meeting that took place in Doha on 3 April were the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey in Doha Fikret Özer, The Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Investment Office Vice President Ahmet Burak Dağlıoğlu, Alternatif Bank CEO Kaan Gür and Commercial Bank Executive General Manager of International Banking Fahad Badar, in addition to Boğaziçi Ventures, Istanbul Startup Angels, Ida Capital and Turk Telekom Ventures. High-level executives from the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Investment Office, Commercial Bank and Alternatif Bank, as well as Qatari investors gave presentations and made one-to-one discussions in the meeting.

The Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Investment Office Vice President Ahmet Burak Dağlıoğlu

commented “Turkey and Qatar remain and will continue to remain, two important strategic and economic partners. As a result of this cooperation, in 2018, the trade volume between the two countries reached almost 1.5 billion dollars and the number of Qatari visitors to Turkey exceeded 130 thousand last year. Regarding Foreign Direct Investments there has been a rapid increase in Qatari investments in Turkey over the past 16 years. FDI stock of Qatari companies in Turkey has reached USD 5.5 billion.”                           

Alternatif Bank CEO Kaan Gür commented, “As Alternatif Bank, we place a great importance on adding value to the assets of our customers and growing with our customers thanks to our 27 years of experience in the Turkish banking industry and our ‘advisory and insightful banking’ approach, which constitutes the foundation of our corporate culture. Strengthened by the friendship between Turkey and Qatar, we stay focused on carrying the already increasing trade between the two friendly and brotherly countries higher each day, and making a difference with our products and services. Along with our shareholder Commercial Bank, we act as a bridge between Qatar and Turkey to increase mutual investments. We strive to meet all the banking needs of our customers in a seamless fashion, and aim to support the prospective investments between the two countries. In addition to our banking services, we also offer exclusive solutions for their financing and investment needs through our subsidiaries Alternatif Lease and Alternatif Menkul.”

Kaan Gür also added: “Turkey continues to attract the attention of international investors thanks to its young population, its agile composition that can easily adapt to technology and its strong finance industry. Turkish start-ups achieved an outstanding success last year by striking important deals and attracting investments. They have shown that they have a huge potential with their accomplishments. We believe that this meeting is a great opportunity to promote the high-potential venture capital funds in our country and the start-ups in their portfolios to Qatari investors, and we are pleased to support this process with Commercial Bank’s support and our experience in the banking industry. Our support for these ventures will continue in the future.”  

Alternatif Bank Vice Chairman of the Board and Commercial Bank Group CEO Joseph Abraham also said, “We see the potential of Turkey and Alternatif Bank, which is our largest international investment, and Commercial Bank and Alternatif Bank together consider ourselves at the forefront of developing the strategic relationship between our two countries. Our support for two-way investment between Qatar and Turkey is among our top priorities and we are pleased to have hosted this high-level investment event. Commercial Bank and Alternatif Bank believe that through our close collaboration and cross-border expertise, we can effectively facilitate trade, serve the banking needs, and provide investment opportunities for parties in both Turkey and Qatar.”