Qatari prime minister courts Egypt on business visit

Ahead of hosting the 2022 World Cup, Qatar is looking for partners in infrastructure development, sending a top delegation to Egypt from Friday

A Qataribusinessvisit to Egypt will start tomorrow, Friday. The visit will be led by Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber bin Muhammad Al-Thani.
A large economic delegation of officials and executives will explore joint business opportunities with Egyptian counterparts, along with discussing trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.
Rachid Mohamed Rachid, Egyptian minister of trade and industry, recently visited Qatar and discussed with the Qatari government ways to increase economic cooperation between Egypt and Qatar.This visit comes at a time when Qatar needs to invest massively on infrastructure, in preparation for hosting the 2022 World Cup.
Qatar plans to more than double its number of hotel rooms, build nine stadiums and refurbish three others, in addition to constructing a rail and metro network, Bloomberg reported earlier.
Egyptian construction and building materials companies are expected to participate in the Qatari building bonanza.
Qatar plans to spend $4 billion on a stadium construction and refurbishment programme. The rail and metro networks are expected to cost more than $25 billion.
In addition, there are plans to build the longest bridge in the world that will connect the tiny oil-rich state with the nearby Kingdom of Bahrain. A new airport is also under construction and is expected to be operational next year.
Qatar's hosting of the 2022 World Cup is expected to boost the country's economy, diversifying its investments and increasing spending on non-hydrocarbon sectors, in particular infrastructure, construction and manufacturing, reports say.
Increased government spending will help maintain Qatar's annual growth forecast of 15 per cent in 2010 and 16 per cent in 2011.