DOHA-WASHINGTON TIES ARE A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP AND WILL REMAIN SO IN THE FUTURE E. O. KASAEV MGIMO (U) student of the Russian Foreign Ministry Qatar Keywords:, United States, trade, investment, military cooperation The United States occupies a leading position in Qatar's foreign economic relations*. Doha considers cooperation with Washington as an important element in maintaining the stability of the emirate, its security and, as a result, a factor for sustainable progressive economic growth and social well-being. In turn, the United States also shows considerable interest in Qatar, which occupies an important geostrategic position in the Persian Gulf. In particular, energy security considerations and the desire to have guaranteed free access to large hydrocarbon reserves are taken into account. Equally important for the White House is the desire of the Qataris to strengthen bilateral trade, economic, investment and military-technical ties. ECONOMY AND INVESTMENT Trade and investment ties between Doha and Washington are developing very dynamically. Today, economic cooperation is, in fact, the basis of partnership between the two countries. Recently, the interest of US companies in the emirate has grown significantly due to the favorable investment climate and relatively low level of terrorist threat. The Qatari-American Business Council is actively functioning, and work is underway to prepare an agreement on the creation of a free trade zone. Trade with the United States** totaled $3.626 billion in 2010. (of these, Qatari imports -$3.16 billion, exports - $466.4 million)1. In 2011, the parties continued to develop trade and economic ties. In the first 11 months of last year, Qatari exports to the United States increased ($1.175 billion) and imports decreased ($2.557 billion) .2 In addition, for the first time since the beginning of 2006, in January 2011, Qatari exports ($112 million) exceeded imports ($107.9 million); the positive balance in favor of Qatar was $4. ... Read more