Qatar is well-placed to ride out the recent siege-like conditions that were recently imposed on it by its neighbors, a senior Chamber of Commerce (QC) official has said.
Though its land border with Saudi Arabia is closed, Qatar is still receiving food and other supplies through Hamad Port and air cargo, QC Chief Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani said.
All in all, the country has enough stocks to sustain its people for 12 months, he added, according to the Peninsula.
New Doha Port Project
Hamad Port is now going to bring in the majority of supplies.
The newspaper said that the QC held a meeting with 40 major food companies this week. They have negotiated new contracts with different suppliers since the recent falling out with some Gulf states.
One of the countries that have offered to supply food to Qatar is Iran.
Consumer confidence
Qatar has been working to boost consumer confidence after three of its neighbors cut diplomatic and economic ties with the nation on Monday.
Shortly after news of the Gulf dispute broke, some shoppers in Qatar rushed to stores to stockpile fresh milk and other goods.
But to quell any panic buying, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce has been posting videos of fully stocked grocery stores on social media
Despite this, Qatar’s detractors said they are hopeful that the country won’t be able to hold out much longer without their help.
Speaking to the BBC yesterday, Saudi’s foreign minister said that closing its border with Qatar should help motivate it to behave “like a normal country.”
Saudi’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said:
“The decisions that were made were very strong and will have a fairly large cost on Qatar and we do not believe that Qataris want to sustain those costs.”
But his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, told CNN that it would not bow to nations who wish to control its sovereignty.
He added that the Emir had instructed officials to prepare for this contingency back in 2014.
That is when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE temporarily pulled their ambassadors from Qatar to protest its politics.
