Qatar and Italy are planning to build their second liquified natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal in Italy to enhance capacity, according to a report.

The countries are also conducting discussions on many other investment proposals are in the pipeline, in an effort to deepen the bilateral economic ties, said the Peninsula report.

“Italy is one of the largest trading partners of Qatar in Europe. Our exports to Qatar for the first 10 months of 2014 stood at €900m (about QR3.7 billion/$1 billion) while Qatar’s exports to Italy was about €1.4 billion. The trade balance was in favour of Qatar essentially due to exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG),” said Guido De Sanctis, Italian Ambassador to Qatar, was quoted as saying.



“We need to keep in mind that a new LNG terminal will not only be useful for Italy but will also help Qatar in catering to the whole of Europe.”



The proposed project has to go through many processes and challenges, including political, environmental and issues related to employment, said the report.



The Qatar-Italy bilateral trade volume this year is expected to surge as many Italian companies are here to explore the Qatari market, it added.