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Rahul Preeth
Doha
The Qatar-Mexico Joint Business Council, which was launched in Doha on Monday, has a lot to contribute towards the successful hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, a senior Mexican executive of the council has said.
As 2022 nears, more Mexican companies will focus attention on Qatar, Javier Rattia, who chairs the Mexican side of the council, said. With Mexico having hosted the World Cup twice ” in 1970 and 1986 ” and getting ready to become the first country to ever do it again for the third time in 2026, the experience and expertise Mexican companies will bring to Qatar will be of great value to the 2022 host, he added.
"I can say without a doubt that their job will be a lot easier because of the formation of the council."
Rattia is also the Partner Director of Dunn Lightweight Architecture, which is the first company to win a 2022 World Cup contract. Dunn is tasked with designing and installing roofs and facades of two World Cup stadium ” in Al Rayyan and Lusail.
"Like Qatar, Dunn also shares a long-term vision well beyond 2022," he said.
A subsidiary of the Mexican company Dunn Arquitectura Ligera SA de CV, Dunn Lightweight Architecture is a Qatar Financial Centre-registered company fully operating in Qatar.
The 2022 World Cup, he said, would showcase the"amazing hospitality" and richness of the Arab culture to the entire world.
"At the same time, just like every four years, more than 40,000 Mexicans will get ready to start their pilgrimage to the biggest sporting event. For the first time in history, masses of Mexicans and Qataris will meet each other. Only then we will realize we share more similarities than differences," Rattia said.
Earlier on Monday, Qatar Chamber Vice Chairman Mohammed bin Ahmed bin Towar al Kuwari and his Mexican counterpart Jorge Lopez Morton signed an agreement creating the council. Morton, the Vice Chairman of the Mexican Business Council for Foreign Trade, Investment and Technology (COMCE), said the newly launched bilateral business council will go a long way in fostering economic ties between the two countries.
The council, which comprises five companies each from the Mexican and Qatari sides, will strive to facilitate direct relations between Mexican companies doing business in Qatar and their local counterparts, Juan Cepeda, Director of ProMexico for Middle East, said. Mexico's investment promotion agency has been instrumental in forming the council in Qatar, along with Qatar Chamber, COMCE, Mexican Embassy in Qatar, Dunn and Doha Bank.
